DIY Bio-Hazards Coming Soon!
Welcome to the future.
It isn’t too surprising to learn that scientists have sequenced the DNA of polio, the 1918 flu virus and more recently the “type H” botulinum toxin. And then created synthetic versions of them. Rightly so they are keeping that last one under lock and key because:
It is the most deadly substance ever discovered: 2 billionths of a gram is enough to kill one person. One reason it’s been published is because DNA synthesisers, machines that can take lines of DNA and turn it into molecules, are also surprisingly easy to get hold of. You can buy one for a few thousand dollars on eBay. With DNA code and a synthesiser, you too may be able to make some DNA of your own. [via The Telegraph]
Generally speaking, when science works out how to something, it tends to be done – from nuclear bombs to particle accelerators – regardless of the inherent risks. While I have no doubt that American scientists will do the right thing, it won’t be long before such information and technology falls into the wrong hands. Terrorists and/or governments will be able to create a lot of havoc cheaply and undetected. Sounds like it will become as easy as making a bunch of counterfeit Lego blocks.
This is another example of why being away from large crowds or populations is safest. The chances of a toxic substance being deliberately released where I live (near a small town in rural Australia) are slim to none.
Giant Underwater Pyramids Hoax
I usually just ignore this types of stories – the ones that tell of amazing discoveries which have no legitimate source (like a real newspaper or academic journal). However, this time Graham Hancock was asked about a story so many times he felt compelled to write a Facebook post concerning it:
HOAX WARNING re stories about “giant underwater pyramids made of thick glass found in the center of the Bermuda triangle.” I can’t even count how many good well intentioned people have written to me in recent days asking if stories like this one (http://www.utaot.com/2012/09/27/two-giant-underwater-pyramids-made-of-thick-glass-found-in-the-center-of-the-bermuda-triangle/) are true. These stories are NOT true! “Meyer Verlag”, the name of the alleged “oceanographer” in the story linked above means Meyer Publishing House in German; in some other stories (quite a few are going around) he’s referred to as Verlag Meyer — i.e. Publishing House Meyer. This is an obvious hoax that has been in circulation since at least 2012 if not before with no resolution. I don’t understand why people put crap like this about but I’m concerned that the effect will be to harm the work of genuine alternative historical researchers.
More at his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Author.GrahamHancock
Orang Pendek – Beast Man of Sumatra
I think there is a lot to still be discovered in and around Indonesia. This where we can find the Komodo Dragon, where we have found the “hobbit” hominids, where you can see a step pyramid that is eerily similar to those of the Americas (Candi Sukuh), and where perhaps another cousin of humankind still exists!
I hadn’t heard of the Orang Pendek until I saw a show on National Geographic channel called Beast Man. The reason these hominids are not accepted by modern science is down to a lack of evidence – which means witness testimony is about all we can go on. Ordinarily I wouldn’t give much credence to eye-witness accounts because that would place these creatures in the same category as the Loch Ness monster and space aliens. Not particularly probable.
In this documentary the two key witnesses were of high enough quality to pay attention. Both are experts in the cryptozoology field, and both have devoted years of their life to proving the existence of the Orang Pendek – because they have encountered them in person.
Orang Pendek (Indonesian for “short person”) is the most common name given to a cryptid, or cryptozoological animal, that reportedly inhabits remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra.
The animal has allegedly been seen and documented for at least one hundred years by forest tribes, local villagers, Dutch colonists and Western scientists and travellers. Consensus among witnesses is that the animal is a ground-dwelling, bipedal primate that is covered in short fur and stands between 80 and 150 cm (30 and 60 in) tall.
…From 2001 to 2003, scientists analyzed hairs and casts of a foot print found by three British men—Adam Davies, Andrew Sanderson and Keith Townley—while traveling in Kerinci. Dr. David Chivers, a primate biologist from the University of Cambridge, compared the cast with those from other known primates and local animals and stated:
- …the cast of the footprint taken was definitely an ape with a unique blend of features from gibbon, orangutan, chimpanzee, and human. From further examination the print did not match any known primate species and I can conclude that this points towards there being a large unknown primate in the forests of Sumatra.
Debbie Martyr has been in Sumatra for 15 years, and it appears she has remained there to prove the existence of the Orang Pendek. However she has also discovered a species of deer that was thought to be extinct, so she certainly isn’t some publicity-seeking weirdo. And she is the team leader for a project to save the Sumatran tiger for the wonderful Fauna and Flora International.
Jeremy Holden is a professional wildlife photographer who has found proof of other species in Asia that were not known to currently exist. For example, he has recently photographed the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. Watch him describe seeing the Orang Pendek here.
From watching their interviews (and noting that they are professional conservationists), I feel convinced that they are believable when they say they have each witnessed the mysterious Sumatran primate.
We have:
- a general location where other branches of the human species have existed in relatively recent times
- historical sightings
- recent sightings by experts, and a footprint that seems like good evidence
- jungle that makes their elusiveness very believable
I am quite confident that this species will be confirmed in due course. I do, however, hate to think what would then happen to it 🙁
In the long-term I expect that enough recent species of human will be discovered to prove that a global cataclysm circa 10,000 BC drove evolution. I believe that another human species, who I have dubbed the mysterious elders, who helped build societies and pyramids worldwide, might still be hiding somewhere.
Power Grid Attack in California
It is hard to tell if this is just vandalism, anarchists or terrorists… but with so many poorly-guarded facilities, it would make sense to have some practices before the day you really want to wreak havoc. Imagine if 20 substations were attacked at once, in conjunction with other terror activities? They could certainly create panic.
The FBI is investigating how an unknown group penetrated a San Jose, California power substation earlier this year [April 2013], strategically cutting fiber cables and then firing over 100 rounds of ammunition into ten transformers.
The attack happened on April 16, but until now the FBI had dismissed the event as an act of vandalism, even though early FBI reports suggested the “military style” attack may have been linked to the Boston Marathon bombing that happened a day earlier.
PG&E, the company that runs the compromised power substation, disagreed with the FBI’s initial claims of vandalism, and said the attack was “not amateurs taking potshots” and then suggested the attack was more likely a “dress rehearsal” for future attacks.
Not an Isolated incident.
According to the New York Times, the FBI is also investigating a series of attacks in Arkansas where high-voltage power lines were deliberately severed in at least three separate attacks. Utility officials have asked the public to stay alert, and are also investigating whether a September 29th fire at an electrical substation in Arkansas is somehow connected with the power line attacks.
[More at OffGridSurvival.com]
Still In The News
I love the amazing resource that Vice.com is (as well as their TV show), and my 2012 story is back there again today. This time I caught up with British academic Joseph Gelfer who asked me a few questions about my post-2012 world. Some might be surprised to find out that I don’t actually have a bunker:
We’ve got a bunker, but it’s a golf course bunker right next door to our house, which is kind of ironic because I decided not to build an actual bunker. I’ve talked myself out of bunkers and told other people that you don’t need them in Australia.
Otherwise I talk about death threats, my dislike of talkback radio, the double-edged nature of being wrong about the end of the world (so far), and how my kids are still totally unaware of what 2012 was all about.
And for the what next? question I touched on antibiotic failure, Big Brother surveillance and the idea that we live in a simulation.
Full interview at Vice.com
Water Tank Treatment
In rural NZ and Australia, water tanks are commonplace. They are quite large (1000 litres plus) and fed from roofs or sometimes spring/bore water.
In a post-SHTF situation, you might come across a vacant refuge that comes with a full tank of rain water. Of course you will have various ways of making water drinkable, but wouldn’t it be marvellous if you could treat the entire water tank at once?
GeoSIL (aka Pour N Go) is a unique and powerful disinfectant developed in Switzerland, and is used extensively for water treatment in Europe, the United Kingdom, and recently North & South America. It controls bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi and significantly reduces biofilm. Its intensive formula also helps to reduce your environmental footprint by eliminating harmful toxins expelled into the environment. GeoSIL water treatment technology is trusted worldwide.
Basically you just pour it into the rainwater tank. Couldn’t be easier! Worth packing, costs $50 or so in Australia (Masters sell it)
Other Robert Basts
I chose the name Robert Bast for writing on topics that could negatively affect my family or career, had I stuck with my real name. However because I chose it pre-Internet, it was impossible for me to tell if the name was unique. With just a single Bast surname in the Auckland White Pages I figured I wouldn’t be stepping on anyone’s toes.
Turns out there are at least two prominent people with the same name:
Robert C. Bast, Jr., M.D – Vice President for Translational Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Professor Robert Bast (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), who studies Christian culture in medieval and early modern Europe, with special interests in late-medieval and Reformation Germany.
My apologies! Hijacking your name was never my intention.
But why Bast? Well when I chose it (in my twenties) my favourite authors included J.G Ballard, Richard Bach & Clive Barker. Because I was planning on writing fiction as well, I had hoped to one day appear directly beside them on the shelves of bookstores. And because I was interested in ancient Egypt, and my favourite animal was my cat Topsy, I chose Bast – the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection and cats.
Jason Kerrison and the Inspirational Ark
Seems I am not the only Kiwi who used poetic license in order to inspire people to make survival preparations…
Jason Kerrison Ark
Jason Kerrison… created his own maelstrom by announcing plans to build an “ark” in preparation of the end of the Mayan calendar year.
…For the record, it’s not an ark Kerrison’s building but a resilient home made from shipping containers and shotcrete, a sprayable concrete that can deflect heat. The construction’s designed to take any natural or man-made disaster, the details of which he remains coy.
What he will tell us is that it’s being built in modules atop a hill with 320-degree views, 20 kilometres south of Kaitaia.
…It will undoubtedly take several years to complete and will cost “a f…load”. “It will hopefully take any natural or man-made disaster.” [Stuff NZ]
I sense a kindred spirit… I spoke of a bunker, and while the bunker was of the golfing kind, my survival preparations are otherwise real. As of last December I was well ahead of most survivalists in terms of readiness, but I still today have much more to achieve.
Food and water, they are cheap and easy. Land in a great location, plus infrastructure and equipment, that’s generally quite expensive.
For many years prior to 2012 I described the phenomenon as a “great excuse to prepare”. The end of the Mayan calendar may have been and gone (as best as we can tell), but the most likely scientific reasons for its existence – grid-killing solar storms and perilous comets – can still occur at any time.
The Ratio Religion
The oldest papyrus scrolls from ancient Egypt describe mathematics. Especially important to the ancient Egyptians were fractions. Every conceivable fraction can be expressed as the sum of reciprocals (fractions that are 1/n), and they had a couple of good reasons for using these sums, nowadays known as Egyptian fractions.
Firstly, it made comparisons easier. To work out which is the larger of 3/4 and 4/5, with Egyptian Fractions you get the answer and the margin:
3/4 = 1/2 + 1/4
4/5 = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/20
We can now see that 4/5 is the larger – by exactly 1/20
Secondly, how would you share 5 sacks of grain between 8 people? Yes, they get 5/8 of a sack each, but that isn’t easy to actually measure out. So using Egyptian fractions we get this answer:
5/8 = 1/2 + 1/8
That’s 1/2 a sack each, plus 1/8 of a sack each. Much easier to actually measure!
The above examples, useful calculators and more, are at Dr Ron Knott’s site:
http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fractions/egyptian.html
This image is from Terrance Nevin’s site, feels legit:
It is becoming clear to me that ancient dimensions are based on ratios. As a poor example, 22/7 = pi. Pyramids that have seemingly random angles fit in nicely when the ratio is unveiled.
While we have some commonalities – the great pyramid of Giza is twice the height and the same base of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico – most of the found ratios tend to have isolated numerical qualities.
Perhaps, back then, the only important factor was that the dimensions of your building fitted a ratio. Any ratio. Perhaps society back then just looked for ratios?
This makes sense if you consider the wheel to be a ratio, or the lunar eclipse cycle….
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Of late I am thinking that the ancient mysterious elders were missionaries. Dropped off in remote lands, and leaving decades later.