Is the secret X-37B space plane going rogue? Or is this part of the plan for the Air Force’s mystery vessel?

Either way, amateur sky watchers found the reusable space plane had boosted itself into a different orbit last week. This might be because it will now come into contact with a few Air Force Satellite Control Network facilities it would not have otherwise. Or because someone got bored. Since the military is disclosing any details, we have no way of knowing.

No landing date for the X-37B has been set.

[Space]

A work crew in Edmonton found a huge dinosaur bone while working in a sewer tunnel. What’s amazing is not necessarily the discovery, but the cavalier attitude held by the museum official the crew turned the fossil over to.

Museum officials say finding dinosaur bones in Canada’s Alberta province is a relatively common occurrence.

“I can go out on a hike on a Sunday and find a dinosaur bone. But it’s really a question of how significant the find is,” said Leanna Mohan, the museum’s marketing coordinator.

Okay Indiana Jones, calm down. Let’s not go crapping all over the coolest thing to happen these guys since Larry slipped face first into a pile of human waste because he was trying to reenact a CFL touchdown dance.

Besides, what if it’s weirder than that? Ever seen that movie Relic? What if that monster ate a real dinosaur in the sewer.

It’s early.

[BBC]

Everyday this week…Brett Rounsaville brings us the Weirdest Phobias ever…um…phobed?

Let’s start things out right this week. What’s the most sane thing in life to fear?

(This is the part where you’re supposed to say “nature.”)

That’s right! Nature. Floods, volcanoes, tornados, lightening, pumas…it’s a never-ending list of unpredictable danger. And what’s the one thing more terrifying than unpredictable danger?

(You’re supposed to say, “PREDICTABLE DANGER!”)

That’s right!!! Staring into Certain Death’s empty eye sockets is WAY scarier than huddling up in the house during a storm, not quite sure whether it will turn into a hurricane or pass you by.

So, following this logic, the single most terrifying thing on the planet must be both natural and predictable. Which is why they have a word for it.

Barophobia.

Also known as an irrational fear of…bum bum buuuummm, gravity.

Caused by a traumatic event the afflicted somehow linked to gravity (i.e. falling from a height or being trapped on an unmanned space station with a human hating AI for a prolonged period of time), it results in anxieties as mild as nausea and as crippling as an overwhelming fear of disaster when confronted with  thoughts of, well, gravity.

Weird, right? What are your favorite irrational fears? Have any of your own?

How did folks describe UFO phenomenon before we had the science fiction constructs to fill in the blanks of interstellar travelers from deep space? Probably a lot like 12-year-old George Campbell of Sherman, Texas in 1898.

“Last night papa and I were riding along the ‘Eighty-foot Road’, about two and a half miles [4km] north of town, when all at once everything got very bright. We saw a great ball of fire coming down toward the ground. It got within about three feet [90cm] of the ground and seemed to rest for a while and then it went back up until it got clear out of sight. There was a buzzing sound all the time.”

George described the ball as 10 feet wide and not emitting any heat.

[Fortean Times]

Forget peak oil, peak helium is set to upset children’s parties and squeaky voices by 2015.

Due to legislation passed in 1996, the United States reserves of helium must be sold off within the next five years, which has led to the lifting gas being criminally under-priced. According to Nobel laureate Robert Richardson:

The Earth is 4.7 billion years old and it has taken that long to accumulate our helium reserves, which we will dissipate in about 100 years. One generation does not have the right to determine availability for ever.

Unless we find another hidden reserve of the stuff, expect highly-flammable hydrogen balloons to replace helium once it runs out.

[New Zealand Hearld]

The trio discuss how polite you should be at a dinner part that goes horrifically awry. They then offer some practical advice in dealing with an impending mole people invasion.

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Who hasn’t dealt with a psychopath? You offer to help them put a sofa in the back of a van one moment, badda bing badda boom you’re putting the lotion on your skin or else you get the hose again…

A new report by Scientific American’s MIND magazine looks into the new research being done into the area of criminally crazy people. Included among the findings on the studies of sociopaths:

• Aided by EEGs and brain scans, scientists have discovered that psychopaths possess significant impairments that affect their ability to feel emotions, read other people’s cues and learn from their mistakes.

• These deficiencies may be apparent in children who are as young as five years old.

• When you tally trials, prison stays and inflicted damage, psychopaths cost us $250 billion to $400 billion a year.

• Psychopaths have traditionally been considered untreatable, but novel forms of therapy show promise.

A cure for psychopaths! Rejoice, Great Big Fat People the world over!

[Scientific American]

Finally, science is addressing the truly important questions… Namely, why that homely girl you took home after a night of drinking seemed much hotter the night before.

…two photos of the same person were supplied. One was natural. The other was subtly altered to make their face less symmetrical. Symmetry is one of the keys to perceived beauty. Respondents were asked which photo they preferred.

In the second test, more altered photos were supplied. The pub-goers were asked to rate the attractiveness of those.

As it turns out, alcohol keeps us from properly assessing the symmetry in people’s faces, and as we all know the more symmetrical a face the more attractive we perceive it to be.  What’s worse is that the uglier the person is the more this effect is enhanced.

See? Now instead of making excuses to your friends you can defend yourself with sound scientific fact!

[thestar.com]

For artist Tervor Paglen, the truth is out there. Seriously, it’s like 60 miles away and you’re standing in front of his shot. Can you move? Thank you.

Paglen has become famous for compiling very long range, grainy photos of the the most secretive elements of our national defense. Rendition programs, codenamed projects, secret identities, redacted or misleading budget items, these are the leads he capitalizes on. He talked to Wired about his new monograph Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes.

“I think of my visual work as an exploration of political epistemology,” said Paglen in a recent interview with Joerg Colberg, “The politics of how we know what we think we know. [An exploration] filled with all the contradictions, dead ends, moments of revelation, and confusion that characterize our collective ability to comprehend the world around us in general.”

Awesome stuff.

[Wired]

Before he boards the international space station in November, NASA’s latest robotic creation Robonaut 2 is spending his time mastering social networking. Using the Twitter handle @AstroRobonaut, the robot is answering questions from the public about his upcoming trip from more than 14,000 Twitter followers.

Robonaut 2 was designed to mimic basic human task and serve as a futuristic helper monkey on the Space Station. Many famous Twitterers have taken notice of the newest Twitter phenom, with even Conan O’Brian chiming in:

The NASA robot doing chores on the space station has its own Twitter account. I’m glad to see NASA is still shooting for the stars.

Robonaut 2 was a bit snarky in his reply:

@ConanOBrien Astronauts are excited to have me @ station because they’ve programmed me to always laugh at their jokes. Jealous?

No word on if the tweets will continue from the Space Station.

[Space.com]

Check out this great video showing the most realistic endgame for augmented reality I’ve seen. Prepare to be eye-banged!

Here’s more information from the producer of the video himself:

The latter half of the 20th century saw the built environment merged with media space, and architecture taking on new roles related to branding, image and consumerism. Augmented reality may recontextualise the functions of consumerism and architecture, and change in the way in which we operate within it.

They even see colors, those lying little vermin. Impostors!

[Live Science]

Remember that pirate ship they found under the World Trade Center we reported on in July? Researchers gathered many samples and the investigation has now started to reveal the true origins of the ship.

The wood samples will hopefully tell us where the ship was built by analyzing the properties and age rings. They are also analyzing various woodworms in the wreckage to glean where the ship might have sailed.

The American Archaeologist site is keeping a close eye on the ship and will report findings as they happen.

[American Archaeologist]

Scientists at the University of Calgary have used a specific type of microchip called a neurochip to allow doctors to monitor the brain waves of victims of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

While the chips aren’t quite ready to replace your Gravis Gamepad, researchers hope they will eventually let patients control symptoms and doctors to monitor the brain’s reaction to new treatments.

[CBC News]