Geologists recently reported that among their finds from an Ohio coal mine is the fossil of a 3.5-inch-long roach, now the record as the largest cockroach fossil ever discovered.  The flat-shaped giant suggests that the critter lived among leaf litter on the floor of ancient tropical rainforests, and surprisingly intact, it scarcely differs from modern cockroaches.

"It's rare to find fossilized cockroaches, much less large ones," says entomologist Philip Koehler of the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Amazingly, the oversized roach wasn't even the king of its jungle.  Among other finds at the coal mine site was a fossil leg from a centipede that was five feet long.  This, however, shouldn't come as a surprise.  Dragonflies with three-foot wingspans, beavers over eight feet in length, and turtles the size of Volkswagens have all been discovered within the last hundred years.

Truly, life as we know it is not progressing, but deteriorating.

Scientists Spot Mystery Squid
by Jonathan Drake
TrueAuthority.com

"I call it a mystery squid.  It's unlike any other squid I've ever seen."

So are the words of Mike Vecchione, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher.  Like a haunting figure moving in the black abyss of the ocean deep, a new and bizarre type of squid with spidery, 20-foot-long limbs has been spotted in a series of photographs taken by scientists in submersibles.  Amazingly, it appears to inhabit frigid waters, and the only evidence of its existence comes from photographs and video images taken from dives dating back to 1988.  The findings, however, are persuasive in that they came from eight independent worldwide sightings by scientists from eight institutions in four countries.

"Not only is this thing really bizarre, it seems to be fairly common in deep waters all over the world," says Vecchione.

As TrueAuthority.com has espoused since its beginning, little is known about the world's oceans.  Says Vecchione, "This is the largest unexplored part of the Earth by far.  I firmly believe that there is a lot of really weird stuff down there that we don't know about."

The mystery squid cannot be named until a specimen is captured and examined, but according to Roger T. Hanlon, a squid researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, "It is almost certainly a new family of squids which would be much more significant than a new species.  It is a wonderfully humbling reminder of how little we know about some aspects of this planet."

Oh, how true it is.

The Ice Man of Italy: Case Closed
by Jonathan Robison
TrueAuthority.com

Most everyone knows or has heard about the Ice Man.  No, not the NBA's George Gervin.  We're talking about the literal Ice Man, nicknamed Otzi.  The 5,300-year-old body was found in the Alps at an altitude of more than 3,000m, still wearing goatskin leggings and a grass cape, with his copper-headed axe and a quiver full of arrows nearby.

Simply put, he's the oldest and most well-preserved mummy ever found.  Up till recently, it had been largely believed that the fellow had died from the intense cold, where he would lie undisturbed for thousands of years.  A recent discovery, however, throws that in the garbage can.

Using a technique called computerized tomography, a sophisticated X-ray that allows for multidimensional imaging, scientists discovered an arrowhead beneath the Iceman's upper left shoulder and concluded that he died in pain and bled extensively.  Yes, in all likelihood, he was shot.

"The new findings throw up a new series of conclusions as to how the Iceman died and overturn such misleading issues as the position of the body, the left arm, and numerous other aspects," said Eduard Egarter Vigl, the mummy curator who takes care of the Iceman in the northern Italian city of Bolzano.  "The story to date of Otzi should be rewritten."

Vigl and other scientists now believe the Iceman may have been in a war or a large struggle, or perhaps a personal feud.  If the former be the case, one would think other bodies would be found in the immediate area.  Most likely, the latter is the case, and the Ice Man of Italy can finally (no pun intended) be put to rest.

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