Paranormal News Network

Record-breaking photons at telecom wavelengths—on demand

A team of researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg led by Prof. Stefanie Barz (University of Stuttgart) has demonstrated a source of single photons that combines on-demand operation with record-high photon quality in the telecommunications C-band—a key step toward scalable photonic quantum computation and quantum communication. “The lack of a high-quality on-demand C-band photon source has been a major problem in quantum optics laboratories for over a decade—our new technology now removes this obstacle,” says Prof. Stefanie Barz.

Lab study suggests longer waves fracture floating ice sheets at lower stress

When waves are moving across ice-covered seas, they can cause sheets of ice to bend and ultimately break. Understanding the processes underlying these wave-induced ice fractures and predicting when they will occur could help to better forecast how climate change will impact the environment and marine ecosystems on Earth.

Quantum mechanical effects help overcome a fundamental limitation of optical microscopy

Researchers from Regensburg and Birmingham have overcome a fundamental limitation of optical microscopy. With the help of quantum mechanical effects, they succeeded for the first time in performing optical measurements with atomic resolution. Their work is published in the journal Nano Letters.

Beamline measurements of unstable ruthenium nuclei confirm advanced nuclear models

A novel apparatus at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has made extremely precise measurements of unstable ruthenium nuclei. The measurements are a significant milestone in nuclear physics because they closely match predictions made by sophisticated nuclear models.

Random driving on a 78-qubit processor reveals controllable prethermal plateau

Time-dependent driving has become a powerful tool for creating novel nonequilibrium phases such as discrete time crystals and Floquet topological phases, which do not exist in static systems. Breaking continuous time-translation symmetry typically leads to the outcome that driven quantum systems absorb energy and eventually heat up toward a featureless infinite-temperature state, where coherent structure is lost.

Dashcam: 17-year-old suspect flees Ga. lieutenant at more than 115 mph before rollover crash

A Fayette County Sheriff’s lieutenant initiated the pursuit after spotting a vehicle reported stolen; the suspect fled at high speeds for several minutes before losing control and crashing

Calif. city to pay $1.7M in former PD sergeant’s wrongful termination, harassment suit

The former Fresno PD sergeant filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually harassed by members of the K-9 unit and was wrongfully terminated for attempts to stop the harrassment

BWC: Man points pellet pistol at NYPD cops before fatal OIS

The officers were on patrol responding to a traffic incident when the man stepped out of his vehicle and pointed the gun at them

Wash. sheriff’s office BWC shows man wielding hatchet set home ablaze during eviction

The man used the hatchet to cut TASER wires as Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies worked to take him into custody

Mysterious Aztec carvings found in tunnel beneath Mexico City

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/lrWr661wa_U?start=374&feature=oembed

Mysterious carvings from the time of the Aztecs were recently discovered in Mexico City in a very unlikely place: In a tunnel that dates back to the 17th century, according to IFL Science:

“Archaeologists in Mexico have unearthed an intriguing tunnel that dates back to the 17^th century adorned with 11 drawings. It is thought the images were created before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, but were incorporated into the walls of the tunnel when it was built centuries later. That means they were likely created by the Aztecs, an empire famed for their beautiful temples, hieroglyphic writing system, and gruesome penchant for sacrificing children.”

bird of prey — The head of a bird of prey drawn on the rock in the Mexico City tunnel (Via INAH)

Among the most interesting of the images were “the carvings of a chimalli or war shield … the head of a bird of prey, a flint point and an element that archaeologist Alfonso Caso identified as (a) ‘paper ornament.’”

Empire of the Aztecs

In the 15th century, according to historians and archaeologists, the Aztec emperor Moctezuma I decreed construction of a dike system in what is now Mexico City for the purpose of controlling flooding from lakes in the area around what is now the capital of Mexico.

However, shortly after construction began, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived with troops and decimated the Aztec empire, destroying what had been built of the dike system, which lay dormant until it was rebuilt in the 17th century. Today, the system is known as the Albarradon de Ecatepec.

extra large 1572534669 cover image — The arch of the tunnel, which is adorned with various Aztec carvings (Via INAH)

Recycling the Past

So how exactly did the ancient Aztec carvings wind up being a part of a water system built three centuries after the Aztec empire was destroyed? By repurposing stone that had been put in place by Aztec workmen some 300 years earlier:

“The stone used in the initial construction was likely repurposed when the dikes were rebuilt, explaining the Aztec symbols etched into the sides of the tunnel. It is believed they were drawn by locals from the nearby towns of Chiconautla and Ecatepec prior to Spanish invasion.”

content 1572534791 foto16 — The remains of statues were also found in the tunnel (Via INAH)

God of Rain

Along the arch of the main tunnel is an etching of a temple that was dedicated to Tlaloc, who was the Aztec god of rain, earthly fertility, and water. Tlaloc was revered by the Aztecs as a provider of life and sustenance.

800px Tlaloc glyph.svg — Tlaloc by Eddo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

And there were other fascinating discoveries made by a team from INAH, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History:

“Hidden within the 8-meter (27-foot) tunnel also lay various artifacts made from glass, porcelain, and a type of pottery called majolica, along with a statue of a seated person that appears to be missing its head and the lone feet of a larger statue.”

content 1572534883 foto5 — The depiction of a temple dedicated to the Aztec god of rain (Via INAH)

Other symbols also seem to be a tribute to the god of rain, Live Science notes:

“Raindrop symbols were found on the upper part of the keystone — the top stone that holds the arch together — also on the east end of the tunnel where the water exited … On the west side, where the water once entered the tunnel, the researchers found one more petroglyph which they are currently studying. They also found four iron nails and two 21-foot-long (6.5 m) wooden beams.”

Screenshot 195 — The Aztecs made countless drawings that have been discovered centuries later (Via YouTube)

A Massive Construction Project

When the Albarradon de Ecatepec was built, it took years and the labor of thousands of native people:

“Three thousand indigenous people are thought to have constructed this dike under the supervision of the Spanish friars Jeronimo de Aguilar and Juan de Torquemada, Chávez said. While the newfound carvings and stucco reliefs show influences from indigenous people, some of the construction techniques, such as the arches of the tunnel, more closely resemble European methods, according to the statement.”

109470409 foto11 — Pre-Hispanic petroglyphs may have been the work of the indigenous people who built the colonial dike, experts say. (Via INAH)

For now, the main concern is to protect this valuable piece of history, INAH archaeologist Juan Manuel Toxtle said:

“It has always been essential that these types of elements remain in the best conditions and best protected.

“I think it is important that Mexicans realize that this is everyone’s heritage and that we have to take care of it.”

Here’s video shot of the discovery by Mexican archaeologists

Featured Image Via INAH

Legends of the Menehune, mythological dwarf people of Hawaii who may still exist today

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Kv9J7Ay2nA?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1

All across the world, there are stories about people of giant stature, and also of relatively small people. In the mainstream, these stories are almost always called myths, and the proof is elusive. Conspiracy theories abound, suggesting giant skeletons have been a carefully guarded secret. However, there are many reasons to believe there is more than a mere myth to these tales of giants and dwarves.

In Hawaiin tradition, there are many stories of the Menehune, elusive small-statured people, a “pygmy tribe” who lived in the deep forests of the Hawaiian Islands. Today, local people point to the structures these people left behind as evidence that the Menehune were quite real, and the first settlers of the islands before the Polynesians arrived.

Below, watch Bradda Roy tell the legend of the Menehune Fishpond on the Kauai island, which locals say appeared after just one moonlit night 1,000 years ago. The pond, an engineering marvel, was constructed with a stone wall that is 900 feet long and five feet high. Legend says the Menehune created the wall, passing carefully squared lava rocks to each other over a distance of many miles to a quarry. (see video below)

“They call [the fish pond] the ‘invisible hands that built the fish pond.’ They say that they came back one day, and the fish pond was built,” says Roy. “Legend has it that the Menehune built this pond. Menehune are mythical people that lived in Hawaii long before the Hawaiians came here.”

According to GoHawaii.com:

“The legend that surrounds the fishpond is based on the mythical Menehune, Hawaii’s mischievous little people who performed legendary engineering feats. The Menehune lived in the forest and hid from humans. According to Hawaiian legends, the Menehune built this entire fishpond in one night. They managed this amazing task by lining up from the village of Makaweli for 25 miles, passing stones hand-to-hand to build the pond. Though Menehune legends abound, some say the word may have derived from the Tahitian word Manahune meaning commoner, or small in social standing, not in physical size.”

Another structure that the Menehune may have constructed in the ancient past is the Menehune or Kīkīaola Ditch at Waimea. The irrigation ditch was constructed of 120 carved basalt blocks running for 200 feet.

Kikiaola facing stones — Kikiaola facing stones. Photo source via Ancient Origins

On the show, Finding Bigfoot, the team takes a detour and explores the legends of the Menehune. They visit the Kauai Museum, where the curator, Chucky Boy Chock tells them myths about different species of Menehune, including Menehunia musclaris, boloheadus, kokee, and commercialls. (see video below)

“The word Menehune comes from Tahitian for Manahune, which is Tahitian for ‘cast of commoners,’” says Chock. “The question that is always asked is, ‘Are they real stories?’ There is some evidence of that.’”

Chock points to the Menehune River also called the Alekoko River, as well as the Fishpond. The name of the river comes from another part of the legend according to other Hawaiian sources.

“The fishpond is said to have been built at the request of a chief named ʻAlekoko who requested one pond for himself and another for his sister Hāhālua. The Menehune agreed, but, as was their custom, they insisted that no one watch them while they do their work.
However, that night ʻAlekoko could not help himself, and he looked to see how the fishpond construction work was going. The Menehune immediately halted their efforts, and then they all washed their bloody hands in the river. This is how the fishpond acquired its name ʻAlekoko which means ‘Bloody Ripples.’”

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJeoowtB0c

Additional evidence that the Menehune were real people and not myth, comes from the fact that they were counted in a population census.
According to the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library:

“Sometime around A.D. 1500, Umi, king of the Big Island, supposedly conducted a census of his realm. Collecting all his people on a plain near Hualalai, he instructed each person to deposit a stone on a pile representing his district.
The first population census in historical times was undertaken in Wainiha Valley, Kauaʻi, near the beginning of the nineteenth century. A careful census of the valley counted more than 2,000 people, sixty-five of whom were described as Menehune. Menehune were the legendary race of small people who worked at night building fish ponds, roads, and temples.”

Other sources suggest the census from 1820 counted 65 people as Menehune.

Menehune — Ancient Code meme by Corbin Black

Diverse stories of the Menehune remain popular throughout the Hawaiian Islands today. Some stories say they were like elves; others say they were ordinary average-stature indigenous people, while other stories claim they were stocky and highly-skilled people who were about two feet tall. Their numbers may have been in the many hundreds of thousands at one time across the islands. (see video below)

Related: Who were the shining beings known as the Tuatha Dé Danann, said to once rule Ireland?

Below, get the fascinating story straight from Historian Aletha Ka’Ohi as she shares the background of the “Mythical Menehune” for the Kaua’i Historical Society. She believes the Menehune were given their name from the Tahitians as a way to label them as socially inferior and were the descendants of Hawaii’s first settlers.

Rather than having a dwarf stature, they were instead imagined that way by westerners who later arrived. According to witnesses that share their stories, the Menehune descendants still exist today, across the islands, and Menehune was a “common slave name.”

“In reality, the Menehune were distinct people of an ancient time,” says Ka’Ohi.

The historian and librarian believes they were real people and describes unique stone implements they once used called poi pounders. A similar stone implement was found at Ua Huka, in the Marquesas Islands, of French Polynesia. The two islands are around 3,650 kilometers (2268 miles) apart.

“This type of pounder has only been found on the island of Ua Huka and the island of Kaua’i,” says Ka’Ohi.

Aletha Ka’Ohi also notes differences in language pronunciation and spelling that suggest ties to French Polynesia and the Menehune. In fact, she traces her lineage to the Marquesas, and thus considers herself a descendant of the Menehune.

Screen Shot 2019 11 06 at 12.28.17 PM scaled 1 — Poi pounder found on Kauai island and on Ua Huka, in the Marquesas Islands, screenshot via YouTube

Other stories suggest the Menehune may have retreated to nearby Necker Island. According to Ancient Origins, these people may have constructed the ancient ceremonial standing stones found there.

“Many anthropologists believe that the island was a ceremonial and religious site. According to the myths and legends of the people of Kauai, which lies to the southeast, Necker Island was the last known refuge for the Menehune. According to the legend, the Menehune settled on Necker after being chased off Kaua’i by the stronger Polynesians and subsequently built the various stone structures there. Visits to the island are said to have started a few hundred years after the main Hawaiian Islands were inhabited, and ended a few hundred years before European contact.”

Relatively nearby the Marquesas Islands on the Island of Flores, Indonesia, archaeologists recently discovered an early human species, Homo floresiensis in 2003. The species has been nicknamed “the Hobbit” and could date back to 190,000 years old. A female skeleton came from a small person who stood 3 ft 6 in tall and weighed around 66 lbs.

Could these known small people be connected to the Menehune in some way?

Screen Shot 2019 11 06 at 1.30.19 PM scaled 1 — Homo floresiensis via YouTube

According to the Smithsonian:

“H. floresiensis individuals stood approximately 3 feet 6 inches tall, had tiny brains, large teeth for their small size, shrugged-forward shoulders, no chins, receding foreheads, and relatively large feet due to their short legs. Despite their small body and brain size, H. floresiensis made and used stone tools, hunted small elephants and large rodents, coped with predators such as giant Komodo dragons, and may have used fire.”

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewI3i5v0LzE

It seems very likely that the Menehune were real people and their descendants live on today on Hawaii. The myths continue to entertain new generations. Ka’Ohi says children are told to keep their ears open for the sounds of the Menehune building walls. In reality, they may only need to listen to their Hawaiian neighbors.

“Children love stories about Menehune, and the best time for these stories are at night because the Menehune work only at night,” says Ka’Ohi.

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxx9oSbf6rI

Featured image via Pixabay

Border czar suggests possible downsize of Minnesota immigration operation

“President Trump and I, along with others in the administration, have recognized that certain improvements could and should be made,” Tom Homan stated

NASA researchers probe tangled magnetospheres of merging neutron stars

New simulations performed on a NASA supercomputer are providing scientists with the most comprehensive look yet into the maelstrom of interacting magnetic structures around city-sized neutron stars in the moments before they crash. The team identified potential signals emitted during the stars’ final moments that may be detectable by future observatories.

New map of the Milky Way’s magnetism offers insights into cosmic evolution

A UBC Okanagan-led research project has given a group of international scientists their clearest view yet of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, revealing that it is far more complex than previously believed.

Prototype cassettes mark key step toward new CMS high-granularity calorimeter

In beehives on the CERN site, a buzzing team of bees collaborates to build hexagon after hexagon of honeycomb—a shape that allows the most honey for a given amount of beeswax to be stored. Working nearby, a team of similarly committed scientists has recently pieced together some more high-tech hexagons to form the first prototype “cassette” for the new CMS endcap calorimeters.