The argument that life on Earth may have been seeded from the stars just received a major boost, as scientists have found the building blocks of life inside a meteorite that landed in British Columbia in 2000.
The Tagish Lake meteorite landed in January of that year, a streaking fireball that burst into more than 500 fragments which rained down on the lake. In its trip from the outer reaches of the asteroid belt it burned down from 56 tonnes to 1.3, and deep inside the fragments there are the basic building blocks of life, including the amino acids, sugars and hydrocarbons that could have jump started life on our planet.
In 2008 the FBI managed to track down a stolen Ferrari — much to the owners delight — but not for long. An agent decided to take the car for a spin before it was returned to the owner. He crashed it and no one is willing to pay-up.
The owner is suing the US Justice Department because the FBI refuses to pay the estimate $750,000 in damages to the vehicle.
The Ferrari F50 was initially stolen in 2003 from a dealer in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. After it was reported stolen the ownership was transferred to Motors Insurance. The vehicle is only one of 50 1995 Ferrari F50 sports cars in the United States.
After the sports car was found it was taken to an FBI facility in Lexington, Kentucky for the duration of the investigation. While in Kentucky however it met its demise.
Were only life as cool as The Rocketeer, we’ve often asked ourselves: Flying around the sky with a huge, flame-spewing propulsion device perilously strapped to our backs. It would sure cut down the evening commute… and fry most of our pants.
Well, the $100,000 Martin Aircraft jetpack is but one step closer to actual reality, thanks to a recent and successful test of the system’s emergency parachute.
But let’s back up a second. The personal jetpack is, sadly, nothing like the comic book hero-turned-Disney-movie. It doesn’t spew flames out of its rear to propel users into the air, but the tested version of jetpack does carry enough fuel for a 30 minute flight or so. It’s powered by a water-cooled piston engine that blasts air downward to generate lift.
Martin Aircraft has already tested the 250-pound, carbon fiber jetpack for a full seven-minute flight. Which begs the question: What happens if the engine stops working? At that point, one’s dreams of soaring through the skies would turn into an Icarus-style nightmare, complete with an unhappy, $100,000 hole in the ground to finish the journey…
North Korea may be one of the happiest places on Earth… according to a study by North Korea. Guess who is last? That’s right, the “American Empire.” However you know the study was fair and balanced since they didn’t rank themselves first on the list. They gave the title of Worlds Happiest Place on Earth to China.
Korea’s Chosun Central Television recently came out with a happiness index compiled by local researchers. Their findings? China is the happiest place on the planet, earning 100 points (a perfect score!). At number two is none other than North Korea itself. Cuba, Iran and Venezuela (in that order) round out the top five.
