So What’s Happening?

Sometimes things happen which really make one wonder what is going on. That was the case this year with the Georgia Guidestones. The Guidestones is a granite monument which contains certain messages some of which are mysterious. To make things even more mysterious, no one knows who built it and someone has updated it this year and again no one knows who did it, with the exception of the person who did and his or her confidants. The monument contains eight modern languages and Babylonian, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and Egyptian hieroglyphics. If you hear the term American Stonehenge they could be talking about the Guidestones. There is also a stone tablet set into the ground near the monument which has historical notes and some believe, the purpose of the Guidestones.

I think the world was surprised when China, Russia and India decided to launch a rival to the World Bank. As things stand now most banks are in the control of the western powers and one has to wonder how this new bank will make out. It will probably be dealing with countries which are much poorer than those which the western World Bank lends money to. It is being said the new bank will be part of a 21 country Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank known as the AIIB. Can the bank succeed or is it just a protest against the World Bank and our policies toward Russia and China? One of the leaders of this new bank is sure to be Jim Ligun who was the former chairman of the China International Capital Corporation investment bank.

You may not realize it but gadgets are now being made which could turn an ordinary person into a super hero. Powered Exoskeletons are one of the first devices which could do this. They are now able to help us lift huge amounts of weight and to do this over many times without getting us fatigued. They can also help us run much faster. One of them which is being produced for civilians is named HAL. HAL stands for Hybrid Assisted Limb and was created to help those who have limited muscle strength or have become immobile due to injuries. When the Fukushima nuclear plant had its accident the suit was used to a small degree to assist workers. HAL is not the only Japanese exoskeleton being made. Panasonic has unveiled the Powerloader suit and a medical exoskeleton named Argo Rewalk which is really a pair of robotic legs has been released to assist paralyzed people. There is also the American military exoskeleton suit which will also serve as an independent robot if required.

A newly discovered species of ants is quite interesting. What makes them so is they impersonate other ants and walk into their territory and eat their food, fooling the host ants. There is a problem however and that is if the imposter ants touch the host ants they are then attacked, because the host ants then notice they are not the same. The impostor is the mirror turtle ant officially known as Cephalotes specularis. Scientists believe even in the world of ants this is so weird to make it very interesting. Not all turtle ants act this way and it is only this particular species of them which is known to mimic other ants.

The salt water powered car finally got approval to travel the European roads. I have talked about this car before, but in case you don’t know about it, it changes salt water into electricity to power an electric car and it seems on paper to be a much better alternative than using batteries. The problem is the price of this car, it is far too expensive to be competitive, but hopefully the price will come down. The car is extremely fast. It can go 0-100 km in 2.8 seconds and has a top speed of 350 km which for us Americans is 217.5 miles per hour and has a range of almost 400 miles. The electrical system has almost no moving parts and is extremely environmentally friendly.

The Dalai Lama has made what Tibetans would call an earth shattering announcement. He has said he would not return to Tibet. He also said he would no longer reincarnate in a political role. It is believed that every new Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the last one. He even went on to say the next reincarnation may be from outside Tibet and could even be a woman. Since Tibet is occupied it has changed what the faithful are willing to do until at least the country becomes free again.

When the Vatican decided to put its library online many people and researchers became very excited. I have to admit so did I, even though many of the documents and books are in either ancient or foreign languages. It is believed 80,000 manuscripts are being digitized. There are said to be 180,000 manuscripts, 1.6 million books and 150,000 images in the main library. There are all sorts of manuscripts being digitized including an unusual Torah which is illustrated and a version of the Iliad from 1613 which is illustrated and in two languages, Greek and Latin. The project has just begun and additional funding will be needed to meet the goal. It is expected to take 15 years to complete the task.

Giant holes have been found on the moon. They are not craters, just holes. NASA has discovered the holes on the moon and some are saying they would be perfect for a moon base. Perhaps they are already. NASA has estimated the surface of the moon has at least 200 of these holes. They range from 16 feet across to more than 3,000 feet. When they are measured they have a strange quality, they are wider as you go down like they were some sort of entrance to a larger chamber. It is being said these holes form when a cave roof collapses. This statement would seem to indicate we know there are caves on the moon. This is an interesting fact since if any type of life exists on the moon it would probably be in the caves.