The Gralien Report

Live Science reported recently on some rather strange behavior witnessed by one of our favorite critters here at the GR, the octopus. This one, however, at first glance might not look very octopoid… in fact, researchers were astounded to see the little fellow swimming along very close to the ocean floor with its arms trailing behind it, causing it to resemble a flounder with fins bristling behind it! Here is the link to the extraordinary piece of video.

Swimming Octopus Mimics a Flounder

Octopus and their kin are known for their intelligence and various formidable habits. In previous studies, octopus have not only learned how to twist the lid off a jar, but research involving cuttlefish have shown remarkable instances of communication between members of the same species. Also known as “chameleons of the sea” for their ability to alter their skin color at will very rapidly for camouflaging purposes, cuttlefish also change color as a means of communicating with their kin. Even stranger, certain varieties have been witnessed making symbols and gestures with their arms that seem to indicate communication on some basic level.

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Less than 24 hours after the premiere of the new National Geographic program Paranatural, which featured my colleagues and I from the L.E.M.U.R. team studying atmospheric phenomenon and Earth lights in Western North Carolina, news is beginning to surface regarding similar phenomenon said to have occurred just prior to the recent 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile.

One of the most credible reports of such phenomenon stems from a Chilean news reporter, Cecelia Lagos, who was interviewed by MSNBC and CNN networks. Lagos described “seeing the sky change colors outside her window as her house shook.” Lagos describes “I saw through my window, while I was still in bed, I saw the sky changing colors, it was absolutely surreal. I really thought it was the end of the world…I don’t know I hope you understand me because I’m not exaggerating really because I saw it through my window like that. That was the most terrifying thing seeing the sky changing colors with the terribly, amazingly, strong movement of the earth, I thought, ok…this is mother earth… the earth opened up and buildings crumbled into the earth …like in the movie 2012…”

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Below is a video preview of National Geographic’s new program, PARANATURAL featuring the LEMUR team researching causes behind the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights:

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Commenting on the way that researchers in the modern Internet era use the web to outsource tools for monitoring even the most esoteric studies, Jon Thompson at TechRadar.com discussed how Ufology is also going through “great changes” thanks to newly available technology.

“The Internet,” he says, “has certainly brought it chaos, but it has also been a catalyst for new life and opportunities. It’s now easier to be taken seriously if you have what you believe is an extra-terrestrial experience—and the very organisations you might try to contact in this case have also had to adapt to change brought about by the internet.”

True, the new methodology applied to the study of UFOs encompasses everything from using programs and utilities like Google Earth to “map” UFO hotspots, to capturing occasional airborne anomalies using outdoor webcams. More simply, however, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are making waves in the field, with online fan groups, networking forums, and even syndicated feeds that bring relevant news to our news collectors and cell phones without anyone having to look for them. Thanks to the web, mankind has all but created a filter that catches the summation of our ideas and interests, categorizing and capitalizing on them in new, exciting, and accessible ways.

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Recently, I’ve begun posting short commentaries on esoterica and the paranormal at the fabulous website Mysterious Universe, based out of the very beautiful Land Down Under of Australia. Today, my new featured article, “Like Minds, Like Times: Would Recessions Affect Aliens Too?” is available for you to check out. Here’s the link: Micah Hanks at Mysterious Universe

Also, below is a quick excerpt from the piece:

Many times throughout history, especially in recent times as modern technological advances continue to push the boundaries of our capabilities as humans, we have asked, “if other civilizations exist out there in the cosmos, are they like us?”

Less frequently do we ponder whether this is something that should concern us; with humanity’s history of conquest, capture and colonialism, if alien beings were anything like us, what if they decided to act in this manner toward humans if they visited Earth?

A new study that appeared in The British Journal of Psychiatry by researchers at University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands suggests that nearly 1 out of every ten children, seven to eight years of age, report hearing voices that don’t really exist and appear to come from nowhere. For the most part, researchers have found that these voices “don’t have an impact on daily life,” and advise that children who report them should merely be reassured and watched very closely.

Of course, the researchers have already probed for potential links between children who report hearing such disembodied voices and those who will later suffer from mental disorders like schizophrenia. Nonetheless, in most cases this sort of activity, at least among young children, has not been found to be a cause for concern, and is considered to be quite normal.

If we choose to look at this from an evolutionary viewpoint, it almost seems that hearing voices would be beneficial to young people, or even mature adults at various times throughout human history. Many people have observed how animals have a sort of “sixth sense” when it comes to navigation and other biological functions (consider the multitude of stories of household pets who, after being separated from their families, manage to travel enormous distances to find their way home). Indeed, if we were to consider whether man could have ever harnessed similar instincts, it might make sense that our early ancestors, often wandering nomads, might have had a psychological development in their brains that created a sort of “knowing” or “guiding force” they could rely on. Indeed, it would be assumed that this would have been entirely a product of how the early mind worked, rather than some supernatural force. To put it simply, before mankind had risen to the dominant species on Earth, they may have relied on senses that instilled a feeling of “being led,” when in essence, they were leading themselves.

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This morning, WPIX.com out of New York reported on a strange find at nearby Plum Island, involving the dead, decomposing body of what is being called a mutant. This, however, is no “Montauk Monster”; the body is human:

A security guard on foot patrol reportedly discovered the clothed decomposing body Thursday afternoon on the southwest beach area of the island, where access is restricted, police said.

The body was described as that of a white male about 6-feet tall with a large build and “very long” fingers. According to authorities, there were no obvious signs of trauma.

In all likelihood, “long fingers” as described here are probably somewhat less than remarkable, since actual measurements aren’t given along with the scant information the report provides. Until actual photos, coroner’s reports, or at very least, some kind of formal measurements are given, we won’t know for certain how long “very long” actually is. Rest assured, however, that if it is a clothed human body, many of these details won’t be released immediately, as the official investigation ensues.

The next question I have, though it might not be so obvious to some, is “what did the feet look like?”

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Recent observations of various species of monkeys and baboons indicate that some may be capable of sounds that are “a step or two closer to human language.” The New York Times reports that Dr. Klaus Zuberbühler, a psychologist with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, reported that several monkeys have been observed that “vary individual calls by adding suffixes, just as a speaker of English changes a verb’s present tense to past by adding an ‘-ed’.”

The report deals primarily with Campbell’s monkeys, which live in the forests of the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Sounds they produce, which include a “krak” alarm call when they see a leopard, are sometimes modified by adding an “oo” sound to the end of the previous noise, changing it to “a generic warning of predators.” When the monkeys see a leopard themselves, they issue a “krak”, however, if they only hear others “kraking” in the distance, they respond with “Krakoos.” The report divulges further behavior of phonetic interest:

Even more remarkably, the Campbell’s monkeys can combine two calls to generate a third with a different meaning. The males have a “Boom boom” call, which means “I’m here, come to me.” When booms are followed by a series of krak-oos, the meaning is quite different, Dr. Zuberbühler says. The sequence means “Timber! Falling tree!”

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In a technological demonstration of advanced bio-engineering, use of methods like vivisection to see the workings of organs in live goldfish have now, in a sense, been made obsolete. “You don’t have to cut it open. You can see a tiny brain above the goldfish’s black eyes,” says Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor in the department of life science at Mie University.

Indeed, a new process has produced the favorable result of goldfish with translucent skin, in response to growing controversy regarding dissections of animals for study.

Calling the see-through fish “ryukin,” the goldfish were produced through a process of selectively breeding varieties of “mutant” hatchery goldfish with pale skin. “Having a pale colour is a disadvantage for goldfish in an aquarium but it’s good to see how organs sit in a body three-dimensionally,” Tamaru told AFP.

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I’ve long been a proponent of the notion that polarized systems involving belief and skepticism are often guilty of the same transgression: ironically, this is belief. Perhaps this sounds redundant, or maybe like I’m creating a circular argument that pokes fun at its own simplistic irony. This is not the case, however; indeed, I feel like the biggest problem with both ideological schools (belief and skepticism) is that proponents of each have a self-contained, inherent belief they prepend to anything they attempt to explain using science. If, to a “believer,” observable data reveals something they believe reinforces their argument, they call it “evidence.” If a skeptic does the same, they might call it debunking. What both parties tend to fail in doing every time is to take a closer look at information that, superficially, fails to support their predisposed theory.

In the new issue of Wired, Jonah Lehrer has written a brilliant article called “The Neuroscience of Screwing Up.” In it, he shares a variety of unique observations that question the way the human mind, as well as the scientific process works in general. Below is a brief excerpt that pertains specifically to the treatment of “anomalies,” and how people are often predisposed to interpret them through this so-called study in scientific failure:

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