Plea for a Missing Pilot

August 12, 2003
On June 23rd, we posted a story about Benjamin Padilla, who piloted the Boeing 727 that vanished after taking off in Africa. The plane took off from Luanda Airport in Angola without permission and no one knows where it was... continued

What is al-Qaeda?

August 12, 2003
In Anne's new Diary, she writes, "Very often we vilify a single person, who stands for everything we hate. We've certainly done this with Osama bin-Laden. While I don't think he's a good guy in any way, I've realized that... continued

Climate Change is Coming Fast, but We Can Fix It?Easily!

August 12, 2003
In his new Journal, Whitley writes about the hows and whys of global warming and says, "?The world remains rudderless and leaderless regarding global warming. European leaders, relying on the untested and probably hopeless mandates reached under the Kyoto protocol,... continued

New Contact Meditation

August 12, 2003
Click "Listen Now" on our masthead to join Whitley in a short meditation for extraterrestrial contact. By the end of August, Mars will be closer to Earth than it's been since prehistoric times, and when Mars is close to Earth,... continued

Message in a Bottle, Part 3

August 12, 2003
If you want to make sure to get your message across, send it off in a bottle. We've written about a 60-year-old message from people escaping from the Nazis and a 20-year-old message from a dead son. Now a homeless... continued

When Earworms Invade

August 12, 2003
Jessica Kovler writes in the August 12th New York Times that "There's nothing nicer than a tune playing in your head?until you can't turn it off." And when you get a song stuck in your brain, it always seems to... continued

An Expensive Side Effect

August 12, 2003
Whenever we take a new drug, we're concerned about possible side effects. One of the most unusual side effects ever discovered has been found with high doses of drugs for Parkinson's disease?they caused people to become compulsive gamblers. Two patients... continued

The Alps are Collapsing

August 12, 2003
Scientists think global warming will melt the Alps over the next twenty years, causing the mountains to collapse into piles of rubble. The mountain range is made up of rocks, with an icy crust of permafrost holding them together. This... continued

How to Handle a Grouchy Parrot

August 11, 2003
Parrots live a long time and like most people, they get grouchier as they get older. Some pet owners can't take it anymore and dump their pets in the U.K.'s National Parrot Sanctuary, where "parrot whisperer" Steve Nichols bonds with... continued

Internet Worm Spreading Fast

August 11, 2003
An Internet worm detected Monday is spreading around the world like wildfire. The worm has has been spreading rapidly across the Internet, according to the CERT Coordination Center, a government funded security watchdog group at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.... continued