Black Mountain

The Black Mountain, known to the Aboriginals as Kalkajaka meaning ‘the place of the spear’, is located in Queensland, Australia. The area is a national park and has a unique range of wildlife, including species that are endemic only to this area, many of which are rare.

Appearance:

The mountain is made up of large piles of black granite rocks and huge granite boulders, some of which are said to be the size of small houses. According to geologists, these rocks and boulders were formed 250 million years ago by solidified magma formation and the absence of soil to fill in the gaps and cracks between the rocks means there are many tunnels and caves within the mountain. The black granite also serves to give it a very dark and eery appearance. 

Legends:

As you would expect from such a spooky place it is rich in legend and folklore. The Aboriginal call it the mountain of death. The legends of the mountain are taken very seriously by the local aboriginal people and they are said to avoid the place like the plague. There are so many caves, tunnels and mazes within this mountain making it very easy to get lost. The mountain is known for some very strange sightings and disappearances and the natives have a lot of very disturbing stories surrounding the Black Mountain. 

One of the most famous of these stories involves a wicked medicine man known as the eater of flesh. The local tribe was so scared of this man that they would actually let him eat their old and sick hoping to appease his cravings for human flesh.  But it seems that one day his hankering to chow down on humans got the better of him and he killed and ate a tribal chief who he had caught napping.

Black Mountain boulders

For the rest of the tribe, as you can imagine this was the last straw. So they banded together and off they went to have a word with the Eater of Flesh. Of course, being well versed in the ways of magic it wasn't much of a problem for him to transform himself into a giant snake and he made his escape into the heart of the Black Mountain. It was there that he spent his days, only venturing out to satisfy his hunger for the meat of fellow humans. Ever since that time both people and animals who ventured too close to the mountain have disappeared, never to be seen again.

The first documented disappearance, involving European Settlers, occurred in 1877,

a courier named Grayner was out on horseback in search of a missing calf in the vicinity of the mountain. When Grayner failed to return a search was undertaken but no trace of Grayner, his horse or the calf was ever found.

A few years later an outlaw named Sugarfoot Jack and some members of his gang were on the run from the authorities. They had decided to hide out in the black mountain, but after an intense search by police nothing more was seen or heard from them.

Then in around 1890, another strange disappearance took place. This time a police constable Ryan and some trackers from near by Cooktown had tracked a fugitive to the mountain of death only for the trail to go cold at the entrance to one of the many caves. Ryan decided he would enter the cave and try and corner his man, but Ryan and the fugitive never came back out of the mountain.

An inside look

There is another story of a station owner who went by the name of Harry Owens. One day he had made his way to the mountain in search of some lost cattle and did not return. His absence was soon noticed by his partner George Hawkings who went to the police to report him missing, before setting out to search for him. It seems misfortune also befell Hawkings, as it has been recorded that he also did not return from the mysterious mount. So the local police force was brought in and conducted a search of black mountain for the two missing men. Bravely two officers of the law entered one of the caves but only one returned. Apparently, the one that came out was so shaken by what he had witnessed in there that he could not give a coherent account of what had occurred.

Now the Black Mountain started to get a reputation from the white settlers. The natives have always known to stay clear of this area and in the 1920’s two reporters were determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and they went to the black mountain and they too were never seen again. Even the trackers that went to go look for them also disappeared. 

Conclusion:

Whether one believes any of the folklore or spooky stories surrounding Black Mountain, it is certainly a harsh, unfriendly place that instills a certain sense of unease and dread in those who see it. It remains a place of many unanswered questions and a mystery waiting for explorers to uncover its secrets.

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Devil Bird

The Devil Bird, locally known as Ulama, is a cryptid of Sri Lanka said to emit bloodcurdling human sounding shrieks in the night from within the jungles. In Sri Lankan folklore, it is believed that the cry of this bird is an omen that portends death. 

Appearance:

Very few have ever seen the creature and those who claim to have caught a glance and lucky not to hear the scream describe the creature to be a massive bird, with a large tale, horns protruding from the head along with either piercing black or glowing eyes. 

As the bird is not usually seen and its cries are described in unclear terms. Ulama reports might refer to the Ceylon Highland Nightjar whose males are known to have a screaming flight-call atypical for nightjars.

Explanation:

There has been a systematic investigation of the identification of this bird by Dr. R.L. Spittel in his book 'The Far-off Things'. Accordingly, the spot-bellied eagle owl is one possible contender but changeable hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus ceylanensis) and Oriental honey buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) are more likely contenders to be the "Devil Bird".

A spot-bellied eagle-owl (Bubo nipalensis) specimen found by villagers in 2001 received much publicity in the press as the final resolution of the bird's identity but the natives who actually have heard the 'true' cry of the Ulama and had seen the bird in action, are certain that it is a changeable hawk-eagle, which is more in agreement with the description of the bird in the local folklore. The reason for the confusion is probably the fact that most Sri Lankans have a mistaken perception as to the true cry of the Ulama.

One problem with the spot-bellied eagle-owl being the Devil Bird is that in most legends involving the bird, the original Devil Bird was a person in anguish who fled into the forest clutching their head with one hand only indicating that the bird had a crest as opposed to two ear-tufts. Since the spot-bellied eagle-owl has very prominent ear-tufts, it may not be the Devil Bird. However, all the legends may have stemmed from one, and all may have got that detail incorrect.

According to R.L Spittel in his book "Far-off Things", the steps that should be taken to identify the bird are; "(a) The cry should be clearly recognized and defined, and not be confused with many weird cries of the jungle. (b) The bird should be shot while actually making the cry, or on the tree from which the cry comes. (c) It should be identified after death by an ornithologist."

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Giant Swan

Giant Swan also known as Cygnus falconeri is an extinct specie of very large swan from the Middle Pleistocene period of Sicily and Malta.

 It had a wingspan of 3 metres and weighed about 16 pounds. Research suggests it was well adapted for walking but had little or no flying ability. 

It would have been taller than the dwarf elephants that roamed the region. It became extinct before the arrival of humans in the region. 

The reason behind its disappearance may have been climate change or predation.

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Kepler 186-f is more habitable than previously thought.

An extrasolar world 500 light years away could be the most promising place yet to look for alien life.

In a recent study, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology used computer simulations to analyze the planet's spin-axis dynamics and to determine how much its tilt changes over time.

The findings indicated that Kepler-186f's tilt is actually stable like that of the Earth, meaning that it has seasons and climates, just like our own planet does.

Discovered back in 2014, this intriguing extrasolar world is also situated in its star's habitable zone, meaning that the temperature is 'just right' for liquid water to pool on its surface.

As a possible place to look for alien life, it is certainly a tantalizing target for future observations.

"Our study is among the first to investigate climate stability of exoplanets and adds to the growing understanding of these potentially habitable nearby worlds," said study leader Gongjie Li.

"I don't think we understand enough about the origin of life to rule out the possibility of their presence on planets with irregular seasons," co-author Yutong Shan added. "Even on Earth, life is remarkably diverse and has shown incredible resilience in extraordinarily hostile environments."

"But a climatically stable planet might be a more comfortable place to start."

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Mystery of the lost letter of Columbus

A copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus was stolen from the Vatican and replaced with a fake.

The letter, which was acquired by the Vatican Apostolic Library in 1921, was a copy of a letter that Columbus had written in 1493 to describe his first impressions of the Caribbean islands.

Intended for the eyes of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, the letter described a land "full of trees of endless varieties, so high that they seem to touch the sky."

It was valued at a staggering $1.2 million.

In 2011 however, United States Homeland Security Investigations received a tip-off from an old books and manuscripts expert claiming that the Vatican's copy of the letter was actually a forgery.

It later transpired that someone had managed to switch the real one with a near-perfect fake.

It wasn't until last week that the original was finally tracked down and returned to the Vatican.

The identify of the individual responsible for creating the forgery and switching it over continues to remain a mystery. The theft could have been carried out at any time over the last 90 years.

As things stand, it seems unlikely that we will ever know for sure who was behind it.

The forgery that was held in the Vatican had been created with a technique called “stereotyping,” which “reproduces the tactile effects of early printed books,” Povoledo writes. This technique was popular during the 19th and 20th centuries, so it is possible that investigators are dealing with a crime that was committed many years ago. Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, the Vatican’s archivist and librarian, tells Povoledo that if this is indeed the case, “we will probably never know for sure who the forger was.”

Source:Smithsonianmag

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Fish with a bird-like head caught in Chinese river

A fish with a head resembling that of a bird has been caught in a river in China's Guizhou Province.

Recently released footage of the peculiar creature, which looks like an amalgamation of two different types of animals, went viral after it was uploaded on to Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Since then, thousands of Internet users have been attempting to figure out what it is.

According to fish expert Yang Xing from the Guizhou Fisheries Research Institute, the most likely explanation is that the creature is a carp with a prominent head deformity.

"One possibility is that the embryo was damaged when it was growing," he said.

"Another possibility is that the lack of oxygen in [the] water - due to over-crowded fishing farming - caused the fish's head to be deformed."

According to reports, the fish was later released back in to the river.

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Curiosity discovers Organic material on Mars

NASA has announced this week that complex organic matter has been found in an ancient lake bed on Mars.

The material was found after the rover drilled into the surface of a 3.5 billion-year-old mudstone at the bottom of the Gale crater.

Researchers have been quick to point out that the discovery does not necessarily mean that there is, or has been, life on the red planet.

The groundbreaking discovery represents the best evidence yet that Mars was once home to lakes filled with the carbon-based compounds necessary for primitive life forms to develop.

Intriguingly, NASA scientists have been unable to determine how this organic matter originally formed, meaning that there is a chance that it was the byproduct of ancient organisms.

It may have also been deposited on Mars by comets or asteroids in the distant past.

Certainly, the presence of these compounds would have helped to sustain any life that did arise.

"We know that on Earth microorganisms eat all sorts of organics. It's a valuable food source for them," said NASA biogeochemist Jennifer Eigenbrode.

"While we don't know the source of the material, the amazing consistency of the results makes me think we have a slam-dunk signal for organics on Mars."

"It is not telling us that life was there, but it is saying that everything organisms really needed to live in that kind of environment, all of that was there."

“To me it is amazing that we can show we have organic matter preserved for more than 3bn years in these rocks,” said Kirsten Siebach, a planetary geologist who was not involved in the work at Rice University in Houston, Texas. “This is very promising for the preservation of potential ancient life on the planet.”

“These molecules could have been part of life, but they could also have been food for life,” Siebach added. “To know that the water really was full of organic molecules really opens up the different ways that life could have existed on Mars.”

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