'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Occurs May 20

'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Occurs May 20 - Skywatchers in East Asia and the western United States should circle Sunday (May 20) on their calendars. That's when a solar eclipse will block out most of the sun, leaving a spectacular "ring of fire" shining in the sky for observers located along the eclipse's path.

The event is what's known as an annular solar eclipse — from the Latin "annulus," meaning "little ring" — and its full glory should be visible from much of Asia, the Pacific region and some of western North America, weather permitting. At its peak, the eclipse will block about 94 percent of the sun's light.

On Jan. 4, 2011, the moon passed in front of the sun in a partial solar eclipse - as seen from parts of Earth. Here, the joint Japanese-American Hinode satellite captured the same breathtaking event from space. The unique view created what's ca

Other parts of the United States and Canada will still see a partial solar eclipse, without being treated to the ring of fire effect, though the East Coast will miss the event since the sun will have set before it begins. The eclipse will occur in the late afternoon or early evening of May 20 throughout North America, and May 21 for observers in Asia. Check out this eclipse skywatching guide to learn more about viewing locations and times.

Solar eclipses occur when the moon comes between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on our planet. When the moon lines up perfectly with the sun and blots out all of its light, the result is a total eclipse. Partial eclipses cover only part of the sun's face.

Annular eclipses are similar to total eclipses in that the moon lines up with the sun dead-on. But in this case, the moon is close to apogee — the farthest point from Earth in its elliptical orbit around our planet — so it's a smidge too small in the sky to cover the solar disk completely. As a result, a ring of bright sunlight will still blaze around the moon's circumference.

Like other types of solar eclipses, annular eclipses are spectacular but potentially dangerous skywatching events. Care must be taken to observe them properly, or serious and permanent eye damage — including blindness — could result.

Warning: Never look directly at the sun, either with the naked eye or through telescopes or binoculars without the proper filters.

To safely observe the May 20 annular eclipse, you can buy special solar filters to fit over your equipment, or No. 14 welder's glass to wear over your eyes. Do NOT use standard sunglasses or any kind of homemade sun-shading contraption.

The safest and simplest technique is perhaps to watch the eclipse indirectly with the solar projection method. Use your telescope, or one side of your binoculars, to project a magnified image of the sun’s disk onto a shaded white piece of cardboard.

The image on the cardboard will be safe to view and photograph. Be sure to cover the telescope's finder scope or the unused half of the binoculars, however, and don't let anybody look through them. ( SPACE.com )

READ MORE - 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Occurs May 20

Ancient Mayan workshop for astronomers discovered

Ancient Mayan workshop for astronomers discovered — Archaeologists have found a small room in Mayan ruins where royal scribes apparently used walls like a blackboard to keep track of astronomical records and the society's intricate calendar some 1,200 years ago.

The walls reveal the oldest known astronomical tables from the Maya. Scientists already knew they must have been keeping such records at that time, but until now the oldest known examples dated from about 600 years later.

In this undated photo made available by National Geographic, conservator Angelyn Bass cleans and stabilizes the surface of a wall of a Maya house that dates to the 9th century A.D. in the Maya city Zultun in northeastern Guatemala. Archaeologists have found the small room where royal scribes apparently used walls like a blackboard to keep track of astronomical records and the society's intricate calendar some 1,200 years ago. Anthony Aveni of Colgate University, along with William Saturno of Boston University and others, are reporting the discovery in the Friday, May 11, 2012 issue of the journal Science. (AP Photo/National Geographic, Tyrone Turner)

Astronomical records were key to the Mayan calendar, which has gotten some attention recently because of doomsday warnings that it predicts the end of the world this December. Experts say it makes no such prediction. The new finding provides a bit of backup: The calculations include a time span longer than 6,000 years that could extend well beyond 2012.

"Why would they go into those numbers if the world is going to come to an end this year?" observed Anthony Aveni of Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., an expert on Mayan astronomy. "You could say a number that big at least suggests that time marches on."

Aveni, along with William Saturno of Boston University and others, report the discovery in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

The room, a bit bigger than 6-feet square, is part of a large complex of Mayan ruins in the rain forest at Xultun in northeastern Guatemala. The walls also contain portraits of a seated king and some other figures, but it's clear those have no connection to the astronomical writings, the scientists said.

One wall contains a calendar based on phases of the moon, covering about 13 years. The researchers said they think it might have been used to keep track of which deity was overseeing the moon at particular times.

Aveni said it would allow scribes to predict the appearance of a full moon years in advance, for example. Such record-keeping was key to Mayan astrology and rituals, and maybe would be used to advise the king on when to go to war or how good this year's crops would be, he said.

"'What you have here is astronomy driven by religion," he said.

On an adjacent wall are numbers indicating four time spans from roughly 935 to 6,700 years. It's not clear what they represent, but maybe the scribes were doing calculations that combined observations from important astronomical events like the movements of Mars, Venus and the moon, the researchers said.

Why bother to do that? Maybe the scribes were "geeks ... who just got carried away with doing these kinds of computations and calculations, and probably did them far beyond the needs of ordinary society," Aveni suggested.

Experts unconnected with the discovery said it was a significant advance.

"It's really a wonderful surprise," said Simon Martin, co-curator of an exhibit about the Mayan calendar at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

While the results of the scribes' work were known from carvings on monuments, "we've never really been able to identify a working space, or how they actually went about things," Martin said.

The new work gives insight into that, he said, and the fact the room had a stone roof rather than thatching supports previous indications that the scribes enjoyed a high social standing.

"It's a very important discovery. We're only getting a glimpse of it" in the published paper, said John B. Carlson, director of the Center for Archaeoastronomy in College Park, Md.

"This is an intriguing start for this discovery." ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Ancient Mayan workshop for astronomers discovered

Meet Iceberg, the first-ever 'albino' killer whale to be spotted

Meet Iceberg, the first-ever 'albino' killer whale to be spotted - When scientists saw a pure white six-foot fin breaking the surface of the water near Russia’s Kammchatka Peninsula, they knew a unique creature was hunting below the waves.

The fully grown orca bull they detected is the first ever discovered.

He hunts in a ‘pod’ of 12 (normally coloured) orcas- and must be at least 16 years old. The creatures can live to up to 60.

The fin of an albino killer whale nicknamed Iceberg travelling in a pod of 13 orcas near Bering island in the Commander islands in Russia

The 'bull' is reckoned to be at least 16 years old

Previous white orcas have always been juveniles, but 'Iceberg' is thought to be at least 16, and possibly older

Kamchatka (highlighted in red)The area around the Commander Islands, where Iceberg was first seen, is protected as Russia¿s largest marine reserve

He seems to have been accepted by the other killer whales.

In the North Pacific, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula near the Commander Islands, the first-ever adult all-white, probably albino, orca bull has been observed by scientists from the universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The scientists called this unique orca ‘Iceberg’ after they saw his towering six feet white dorsal fin breaking the surface.

‘In many ways, Iceberg is a symbol of all that is pure, wild and extraordinarily exciting about what is out there in the ocean waiting to be discovered,’ says Erich Hoyt, co-director of the Orca project.

‘The challenge is to keep the ocean healthy so such surprises are always possible.’

The area around the Commander Islands, where Iceberg was first seen, is protected as Russia’s largest marine reserve.

‘We’ve seen another two white orcas in Russia but they’ve been young, whereas this is the first time we’ve seen a mature adult,’ Hoyt told BBC News. ‘It has the full two-metre-high dorsal fin of a mature male, which means it’s at least 16 years old - in fact the fin is somewhat ragged, so it might be a bit older.

The killer whale hunts as part of a pod of 12 normally coloured animals

The scientists now aim to track the 'pod' to discover more about the unusual creature

'We've seen another two white orcas in Russia but they've been young, whereas this is the first time we've seen a mature adult,' said Dr Hoyt

‘Iceberg seems to be fully socialised; we know that these fish-eating orcas stay with their mothers for life, and as far as we can see he’s right behind his mother with presumably his brothers next to him,’ said Dr Hoyt.

There are plans to expand it, and the scientists are suggesting that it should form part of a network of reserves to give protection to the critical habitat of various whale, dolphin and porpoise species off eastern Russia.

Such a call is in response to local overfishing in some areas, and increased oil and gas exploration, which poses a threat to marine mammals from increasing noise levels, ship traffic and potential oil spills. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Meet Iceberg, the first-ever 'albino' killer whale to be spotted

Synthetic marijuana on the rise: looks like pot, but 'far worse'

Synthetic marijuana on the rise: looks like pot, but 'far worse' - Synthetic marijuana is marketed as a cheap way to get a legal marijuana-like high. But health experts say it is 'way more' than marijuana and is 'very dangerous.'

Antidrug activists are concerned by the rising use of manmade drugs known as synthetic marijuana, which purport to be a legal way to a herbal high but are actually dangerous chemical concoctions that are banned in many states.

Synthetic Marijuana Causing Intoxication in Kids (ABC News)

The drugs, often sold in gas station and convenience stories under names like “K-2” and “Spice,” are known to cause bouts of paranoia and agitation, as well as psychosis. Some teens have coined the term “couch lock” to describe one effect – an inability to move despite being conscious.

“This is nasty, evil, and very scary stuff,” says Nancy Knott, a drug counselor with Scripps Alcohol and Treatment Center in La Jolla, Calif. She relates a recent episode in which one teen considered himself to be Christ Jesus and could not be dissuaded.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that 1 in 9 high school seniors has tried the drugs. Calls to poison centers about the drugs rose from 2,900 in 2010 to 7,000 in 2011 and hit 1,200 in the first two months of 2012.

Makers produce chemicals synthetically and then spray them onto dry herbs and plants, hoping to mimic the appearance of marijuana. The chemicals are three to five times more potent than the THC found in marijuana, “leading to symptoms including loss of consciousness, paranoia, and occasionally, psychotic episodes,” says Tod Burke, a professor of criminal justice at Radford University in Virginia.

As of March 2011, 20 states had imposed bans and additional legislation is pending in 37 states, Professor Burke says.

Synthetic marijuana makers have tried to stay ahead of law enforcement by constantly altering their products chemically, replacing banned substances with new ones that have similar properties. This has lured workers searching for ways to get high but also pass drug tests, as well as teens seeking the latest “new high.”

“It’s easy for entrepreneurs in US labs or overseas to manipulate the molecular structure and come back with another product promising the same kinds of highs,” says Grant Smith of Drug Policy Alliance.

Counselor Ms. Knott says that a generation of parents who smoked pot in the 1960s and ’70s are partly responsible for rising use. They are allowing their kids to smoke marijuana “because we did” – but aren’t aware of the highly detrimental effects of the new synthetics.

“They see this stuff around and think it’s just marijuana,” says Knott. “So their kids are using it, and their kids’ friends – and then they find out after it’s too late that it was way more than marijuana.”

Kids are emboldened by this permissiveness, she adds: “The kids figure their parents were experimenters back in the day, and so why shouldn’t we be?”

They are also looking for ways to manage rising stress levels, says Elizabeth Dowdell, associate professor in the college of nursing at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. “In today's world many teens and young adults have higher stress and anxiety levels than those of previous generations,” she says. “They are looking for something that is cheap and easy to get to give a high that numbs them to the stress and/or anxiety of their world.”

Marijuana advocates are quick to say marijuana is safer.

“The sad thing is that many people use these substances because they are afraid of the criminal penalties for marijuana,” says Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project. “If we would simply allow adults to use marijuana in a regulated, controlled framework, the market for these potentially dangerous synthetic substances would vanish overnight and there would be no one left to sell them to teens.”

For now, the answer to synthetic marijuana is “education, education, education of teens, teachers, nurses, doctors, parents,” says Ms. Dowdell, via e-mail.

Others agree.

“Kids need to learn that these are very dangerous,“ says Christina Hantsch, head of toxicolcogy at the Loyola University Medical Center. “They tell me they would never try cocaine or heroin because they are too dangerous, and yet they are willing to try these, which can be far worse.” ( Christian Science Monitor )

READ MORE - Synthetic marijuana on the rise: looks like pot, but 'far worse'

2012 technology could unmask his identity - and that of a ghost that roams the site

Extraordinary discovery of 12th century abbot's grave: 2012 technology could unmask his identity - and that of a ghost that roams the site - Carbon dating and pathology to be used on skeleton - Abbot reckoned to be 'portly' because of curvature of the spine - Cistercian monastery supposedly 'haunted' by several ghosts

For something like seven centuries he had lain undisturbed.

He – or at least his remains – survived Henry VIII’s destruction of his abbey in 1537, eluded the grave-robbers that followed, and avoided discovery by Victorian archaeologists.

Even deep excavations and the underpinning of the crumbling building in the 1930s failed to unearth him.

But the abbot who headed Britain’s second richest and most powerful Cistercian monastery may soon be unmasked – along with the identity, perhaps, of one of the site’s ghosts.

Extraordinary discoveries: The abbot in his grave, left, and a ring and the head of a crozier found next to him

Historical: The 12th Century abbot's grave was discovered undisturbed at Furness Abbey in Cumbria two years ago

Two years after his final resting place was uncovered beneath the ruins of Furness Abbey, his secrets – and the treasures he took to his grave – are being scrutinised by 21st century technology and expertise.

With the wonders of carbon dating and modern pathological and archaeological knowledge, specialists are confident they can fill a missing chapter in the history of the Lake District Abbey that inspired Wordsworth and Turner.

The skeleton of a portly figure was discovered almost by fluke when emergency repairs had to be made to the abbey at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Cracks had appeared in the ‘mouldered walls’ that featured in Wordsworth’s ‘At Furness Abbey’ verse from his 1805 Prelude, and in some of JWM Turner’s etchings.

They were caused by medieval wooden foundations rotting away. Archaeologists and structural engineers called in to examine them dug down and found an undisturbed, unmarked and unknown grave.

Its significance was immediately apparent. Whoever was buried here had been placed in the presbytery – the most prestigious position in the abbey, usually reserved for those held in greatest esteem.

With the remains were rare medieval jewellery and a silver and gilt crozier, a senior abbot’s staff of office.

The discovery might also shed light, depending on your point of view, on whether the fat abbot might be one of several ghosts said to have been sighted in the ruins.

Experts at Oxford Archaeology North, which led excavations, believe the skeleton is that of a man aged 40 to 50.

Lucky: The discovery of the abbot's grave at the Furness Abbey was almost a complete fluke

Close up: The gilded silver ring found in the grave and a silver and gilt crozier - a senior abbot's staff of office

The curvature of the spine suggests he was obese and perhaps suffering from type-2 diabetes.

That is possibly confirmed by the position of his arms, which lie flanked around his girth rather than crossed over his chest.

Although he could have died as early as the 1150s, English Heritage curator Susan Harrison believes the grave more likely dates from the 1350s to early 1500s.

‘This is a very significant discovery,’ she said. ‘There has been no comparative grave found for the last 50 years in British archaeology.’

The head of the crozier, an ornamental staff carried by high-ranking members of the church, is gilded copper decorated with silver medallions that show the archangel Michael slaying a dragon.

The crook end is decorated with a serpent’s head. A small section of the wooden staff survives – as does part of the cloth the abbot held to prevent his hand tarnishing the crozier.

The ring he wore is gilded silver set with a gemstone of white rock crystal or white sapphire. It is possible that a hollow behind the stone contains a relic – perhaps what the monastery believed to be part of the body of a saint.

Both items are to go on public display at the abbey over the Bank Holiday weekend of May 4 to 7.

In its heyday, Furness Abbey was fabulously wealthy. But after the dissolution of monasteries in the 1530s it was stripped of virtually all its treasures and left to crumble.

English Heritage’s Susan Harrison said that, although the crozier and ring were rare, of more interest was the fact that such an important grave could be excavated and analysed using the most modern techniques to harvest as much information as possible.

Dating the grave could even produce a name for the abbot when matched against historical listings.

And the ghost? ‘I’d like to thoroughly quash all the ghost stories around this and concentrate on reality,’ Miss Harrison said. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - 2012 technology could unmask his identity - and that of a ghost that roams the site