|
|||
|
|
The BBC have posted an interesting article about Dafydd Rhys Williams, a Canadian-born astronaut with Welsh ancestry. Williams took a Welsh flag into space with him on his first space mission. He hopes to take the flag back to Wales soon to promote space exploration.
More details of this can be found in the original story:
BBC Story
This news item was delayed in coming. It doesn’t hurt to let the waters settle after a new sighting of the Loch Ness Monster, as the facts are not always immediately obvious.
On May 26th (2007) a man from Yorkshire, Gordon Holmes, filmed Nessie. The film shows something swimming just under the water, occasionally coming out of the water slightly. He then pans back to show the opposite shore of the Loch, giving an indication of location and size.
Gordon described the creature as about four to five feet long, dark and thin.
There were some initial suspicions as Gordon has been at the Loch specifically to search for clues to the Loch Ness Monster. He has a long standing interest in unexplained animals in the United Kingdom. However, the video has had time to be analysed and not been shown to be fake at this time.
Loch Ness expert, Adrian Shine, commenting that it deserved further investigation, but warned it was most likely a otter, seal or waterbird. The general consensus is that it is an animal of some kind and not some other object. Gordon Holmes in later interviews also emphasised that it could be a known creature.
One thing that sets this sighting apart from others is its realism. A four to five feet long eel-like creature is a plausible version of Nessie. It is not as romantic as the idea of ancient reptiles surviving from the time of the dinosaurs, but it would explain a lot about why Nessie is so elusive. A water breather doesn’t need to come to the surface very often.
There is already some modern folklore surrounding this sighting. Some American sources misunderstood Gordon Holme’s accent. CNN reported that Nessie was about “45-feet (15 meters) long”. Gordon actually says four to five feet long, making a substantial size difference. This mistake has been replicated across the internet, creating a new Nessie legend.
The 26th of March, 2007, marks the opening of “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids”, an exihibition at the American Museum of Natural History. It runs until January 6th, 2008.
The exibit focuses on how people came up with myths to explain the natural world. It also has a large green dragon guarding the entranceway, which is never a bad thing.
The official site gives the basic flavour for the exibit. It has some basic dragon information and shows some old dragon artwork and artifacts. You can visit it here:
Location: China
The BBC ran a story today about the differences in perception of Chinese dragons and the stereotypical western variety. The story was fueled by academics bringing up the idea of dropping the dragon as the symbol of China, due to negative views of dragons in the west. The BBC reports that 90% of replies on a Chinese website survey disagreed, saying the dragon should be kept.
Location: Wales
Black Mountains Smokery received a warning from trading standards about the labelling of their Welsh Dragon Sausages. Though the sausages included that they were made from pork on the label, it was felt that customers could get confused.