Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ghost investigators try to help Oregon family

TALENT — With electromagnetic field readers blinking and infrared cameras surveilling every upstairs room, there was only one thing left to do — kill the lights and call the spirits.

Members of the ghost-hunting Oregon Paranormal Society of Medford came out in full force Thursday night to investigate why the 120-year-old home of Talent founder Aaron P. Talent is haunting its current occupants.

The family, who does not want to be identified, says it has tried driving off the shadowy souls lingering in their rooms by burning sage and having a local reverend bless the house with holy water, but nothing has helped.

"When my 5-year-old daughter woke up and saw the little girl sitting next to her bed twirling her hair, I said, 'Enough is enough,'" says the mother, who has been renting the home in the 100 block of South Front Street since February.

The mother of two says she hasn't personally encountered the spirits, but strange occurrences — most recently, their pet snake disappearing from its locked cage in an upstairs room — and her children's sightings have her convinced that the home is haunted.

"I can deal with it, but if they don't leave my children alone we will move," says the mom. "It's a beautiful home and you'd love to live here if you didn't have to be tortured by these spirits every day."

Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router



Ninth-graders design science experiment to test the effect of cellphone radiation on plants. The results may surprise you.
 
Five ninth-grade young women from Denmark recently created a science experiment that is causing a stir in the scientific community.
 
It started with an observation and a question. The girls noticed that if they slept with their mobile phones near their heads at night, they often had difficulty concentrating at school the next day. They wanted to test the effect of a cellphone's radiation on humans, but their school, Hjallerup School in Denmark, did not have the equipment to handle such an experiment. So the girls designed an experiment that would test the effect of cellphone radiation on a plant instead.
 
The students placed six trays filled with Lepidium sativum, a type of garden cress into a room without radiation, and six trays of the seeds into another room next to two routers that according to the girls calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone.
 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Haunted House does not sell in Florida even with written testimony (documents))

Here is a haunted house in Port Richey, Florida that did not sell on Ebay, no bidders. The residents say that the ghost is friendly and the wrote a 13 pages testimony (below) of their experiences.

At least they were honest.

(from Ebay)

The ghost in this haunted home is a friendly male with a great sense of humor. Current renters have submitted a hand written document detailing their dealings with this funny ghost. I have included it in the auction.

This home is presently rented, but after 1-1/2 years of renting the home, they are moving soon to a larger home. 

There is evidence of a very friendly male ghost who appears to have quite a sense of humor.  The present renters have presented a 13 page document, at the request of the owner, detailing their actual encounters with this wonderful ghost.  I have scanned all pages and would be happy to send it to you at your request.


Would you buy a home where a murder took place ??

(DETROIT FREE PRESS) -- Kayla Bentley was thrilled to move into her in-laws' house as a 19-year-old newlywed back in 2010.

That is until she found out that the unassuming house on a quiet street in Allen Park was where Justin Olszowy, a mentally unstable 26-year-old man, fatally shot his parents two years earlier.

"We were kind of upset about it," she recalled. "It freaks me out, especially because in this situation, he's not dead. If he was released or escaped, this is where he'd come."

But her in-laws, retirees Paula and Jerry Bentley, had fallen in love with the house - three bedrooms, full-size kitchen, nice living room, privacy fencing, a garage, a corner lot.

Location, location, location may be the adage, but what happens when that location is the site of a violent death?

Properties that were the sites of homicides or suicides have an interesting stain that remains long after crime-scene investigators leave. For some potential buyers, owning a home with notoriety gives them, well, notoriety. Others are freaked out by it.

RELATED STORY: HOW TO FIND OUT IF A HOME HAS A BLOODY PAST

In short: I see dead people - and lovely crown moldings.

"One group says, 'I don't want to have anything to do it.' Another group says, 'I'll get the carpets cleaned. How much can I buy it for?' " explained Jason Abrams, owner of the Abrams Team based out of Keller Williams in West Bloomfield and star of HGTV's "Scoring the Deal."

Terrifying tales of real life EXORCIST

The Exorcist: Rev Tom Willis
The Exorcist: Rev Tom Willis
In a lifetime dealing with the supernatural, he says he has seen things that cannot be explained, including ornaments flying through walls and bodiless voices calling to him from beyond the grave


It has been dismissed by sceptics who believe it is the stuff of Hollywood horror movies rather than real life.

But when Pope Francis stopped to lay hands on a disabled boy last week some believe he shone a new light on the mysterious world of exorcism.

And while many people believe it has no place in modern society, there are still ministers across Britain who insist that they are casting out evil spirits.

Reverend Tom Willis is the UK’s leading exorcist – a man who has been called in to tackle poltergeists and the possessed for the past 50 years.

In a lifetime dealing with the supernatural, he says he has seen things that cannot be explained, including ornaments flying through walls and bodiless voices calling to him from beyond the grave.

And at the age of 82, the Church of England minister is still in demand around the world from people who want his help to destroy what they believe are evil spirits.

His expertise is so valued in Britain that even the police call on him.

Rev Willis says: “The people who come to me are really frightened. I’ve even had atheists tell me, ‘I don’t believe in ghosts but I can’t explain what is happening’.”
 He adds: “I always say, ‘you don’t get possessed just walking to the supermarket’. You have to look for a reason why it should have happened. Often, people have dabbled quite strongly in evil.”

Rev Willis found his spooky vocation while working as a minister in York.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Did the Pope perform an exorcism on television ? (video)

The Catholic Church is tying itself in knots over whether Pope Francis last Sunday performed the public exorcism of a disabled man from Mexico. The footage of the Argentinian pontiff, pausing after Pentecost mass in Saint Peter’s Square to place both hands on the head of a 43-year-old wheelchair user, known only as Antonio, has become the subject of a dispute that lays bare the deeply ambiguous attitude of the modern Catholic Church — and indeed of other mainstream religions — to the gospel staple of exorcising the Devil from the bodies of those considered possessed.

When it was first broadcast on the church-run TV2000 channel, a panel of Catholic theologians in the studio stated with absolute certainty that it was an exorcism. The sight of Antonio convulsed in his chair, making guttural sounds, and then slumping down once the Pope removed his hands was evidence enough for them.
Meanwhile the visible change in the Pope’s demeanour, once the priest who was accompanying Antonio, Father Juan Rivas, leaned in and whispered into the papal ear, has been taken as suggesting that Pope Francis was acceding to his request to perform more than a simple blessing — in other words, he was willing, at the drop of a hat, to perform an ad hoc exorcism. That word in the ear was, arguably, the most curious gesture of the whole pored-over episode, for one of the stock images used by Catholicism in the Counter-Reformation was of Martin Luther with the Devil pouring verbal poison into his ear.

The symbolism may even have been intentional, since Father Rivas (a member of the deeply conservative Legionaries of Christ) is evidently well up on the history of demonic possession. He has stated his own belief that Antonio is inhabited by devils, a diagnosis of disability that will have most people throwing up their hands in horror. Surely the Catholic Church has got beyond conflating illness with possession, as when the medieval Inquisition would target epileptics as bearing the mark of Satan.


Friday, May 24, 2013

Is Andy Kaufman alive and well in Albuquerque ? (video)

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It's an urban legend that's been around for decades: Actor and comedian Andy Kaufman didn't actually die, he faked his death as the ultimate prank.

Now that urban legend has resurfaced, with a small group of fans believing he's alive and living in Albuquerque.

Kaufman was considered by some as less of a comedian and more of a performance artist who wanted to make the audience question reality.

Some say, if anyone could pull off faking his own cancer death 29 years ago it would be Andy Kaufman.
“I do find it fascinating and I think there's a very strong possibility that this could be for real,” said Edgewood-based writer Jack Bristow.

Bristow is part of a group of fans recently interviewed by the Huffington Post  who explain in detail why some believe Kaufman has created a whole different life in the Land of Enchantment.

“He told people he was going to fake his death before it happened, years before,” Bristow said.

As the story goes, fans say Kaufman has a biological son, known as Stephen Maddox , who spent years trying to track down his father. Maddox dedicated a website to it  and eventually tracked him down in Albuquerque two years ago.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Truther Alex Jones pushes tornado theory "There’s weather weapon stuff going on" (audio)

Conspiracy talk show host Alex Jones, increasingly a favorite of conservative media for his extremely vocal support of gun rights, outed himself Tuesday as a tornado truther by telling a caller on his show, “Of course there’s weather weapons stuff going on.”

Jones, a longtime proponent of the idea that the U.S. government can manipulate and even produce weather systems like tornadoes and hurricanes, went on to say that if people saw helicopters or small aircraft in the area, then “you better bet your bottom dollar they did this.”

“But, who knows if they did?” he asked. “You know, that’s the thing. We don’t know.”

That almost seems like a first for the conspiracy radio host, who has in recent weeks been endlessly promoting theories about how he’s certain the Boston Marathon bombing was a “false flag” event set up by the Obama administration. Jones also claims intimate knowledge of the government’s alleged plot to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building and carry out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Paranormal presence haunts home of Iowa baseball players

Every night when he got ready to go to bed, Hawkeye baseball player Trevor Kenyon usually left his TV on the Big Ten Network. One night, he decided to fall asleep to FX.

When he returned to his room after brushing his teeth, he discovered his TV had been changed to BTN. Kenyon turned the TV off and put the remote on the floor next to his bed. When he rolled over, he discovered the remote next to him on the pillow. After that, Kenyon turned the TV back on to BTN and let “Tim” watch sports as he fell asleep.

Kenyon, along with five other members of the Iowa baseball team and one club hockey player, recently learned they might not be the only ones living in their house on North Dubuque Street. A local paranormal-investigating task force claims to have confirmed the residents have two spirits in their house. One, an older, grandfatherly figure — whom the guys have named “Tim” — roams the halls and rooms of the three-story house. Another, a younger girl, stays put in one particular room of the house.

“We’ve lived here over the past two years,” junior pitcher Aaron Smit said. “But over the past few months, we noticed things getting a little bit weird. We had a kid in here who thought he saw a ghost — a shadow in a form of a human.”

That experience made Smit, and the rest of his roommates, think about some other not-so-normal things that have happened in their residence before.

“We thought about how [baseball player Taylor Zeutenhorst] said he saw a little girl in his bedroom,” Smit said. “There was a time in the morning where someone was slamming the door, and we heard sprinting up the stairs. Everyone assumed it was me, but I told them I was in bed.”

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Meteoroid strikes the moon (video)

A meteoroid struck the surface of the moon recently, causing an explosion that was visible on Earth without the aid of a telescope, NASA reported Friday. But don't be alarmed if you didn't see it; it only lasted about a second.

"It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before," said Bill Cooke, of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

NASA astronomers have been monitoring the moon for the past eight years, looking for explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. It's part of a program to find new fields of space debris that could hit Earth. NASA says it sees hundreds of detectable lunar meteoroid impacts a year.

None however can match the size of the explosion they say they saw March 17. NASA says the meteoroid was about 40 kilograms and less than a meter wide, and it hit the moon's surface at 56,000 mph. It glowed like a 4th magnitude star, NASA says, thanks to an explosion equivalent to 5 tons of TNT.

"It jumped right out at me, it was so bright," said Ron Suggs of the Marshall Space Flight Center.


Group pays $ 1,000 to 'human bait' to try to capture monster

The Acam (Association of Hunters Haunt Mariana), located 112 km from Belo Horizonte, offered £ 1,000 for those who were willing to serve as bait in a cage in an attempt to capture the creature called "Caboclo D'Água "which, according to the association, has been conducting attacks in the region for years.
 
It is attributed to the haunting, described as a mixture of chicken, lizard and monkey, the death of at least four people in the neighborhood, and several attacks on farm animals and sites.
 
The last human death from which the animal was the author, which occurred two years ago, victimized a boy whose testicles were pulled by a toothed beast while the victim was swimming in a river in the region, according to a survey of the association. There are reports, however, of a death caused by him in 1970 in the locality.
 
According Leandro Henrique dos Santos, general secretary of the association and responsible for the newspaper "The Spit", three candidates presented themselves for the service, but only one was chosen because it presented the best "fitness" to tackle the task.
 
He reported that the candidate named Daniel Pinto, 37, signed a commitment by exempting the association, if you suffer injuries or be killed by the creature. Also according to reports of Santos, the cage has been placed at a point Carmo River in Mariana.
 
The exact location was not disclosed, nor the date on which the "human bait" should spend 24 hours in it. Care is to preserve the stalk of onlookers, who could scare the "Caboclo of Water."

Haunted Mavis Manor in West Virginia (video)

In it's prime, Mavis Manor, built in the 1890's housed traveling sick patients treated by a Dr. Lilly and his wife

Now, it serves as a beautiful bed and breakfast but even with complete vacancy, could this picturesque property have some guests wandering the hundred year old hallways?

The current innkeeper Justin Marchese says guest have reported hearing their name whispered and footsteps down the halls.

Appalachee Paranormal Investigative Team based out of Raleigh County is no stranger to Mavis Manor.

They've searched for spirits at the home before and I decided to try and have my brush with the other side.

See all the spooky things we encountered.


Haunted House up for sale

A Khmer dwelling ​ on prime downtown riverside land has come back on the market, despite its widespread reputation as a haunted house.

The wooden house, surrounded by banana trees and garden, sits alongside the Siem Reap River near a pagoda in Beoung Dounpa village, Slorkram commune. The house was built in 2003 in traditional Khmer style by a Cambodian family.

But the family only enjoyed pleasant living in the house for the first month – after that male members of the family residing in the house began dying. A year after moving in, the family vacated the house and it has remained empty since 2004.

Hooch, a young boy, said he often heard strange sounds coming from within the allegedly haunted house.

“It’s freaking scary for me to hear such things in the middle of the night,” Hooch said, staring at the house.

“I remember one night when my dad had just come back from a wedding party, about midnight. I heard a lot of people talking to each other and laughing so loudly in the house. I think there were also a lot children running around in the house, but when I looked through the window, there was nothing there.”

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Mysterious vortex reported to city council in UK


Council bosses have been left mystified after reports that a portal to another dimension has opened in a residential street in Brighton.

A member of the public reported to Brighton and Hove City Council that the “wormhole or vortex” had opened up in Montreal Road, Hanover, on May 2.

They made the report via the website Fix My Street which is more typically used to report potholes, dumped rubbish and broken lampposts.

The anonymous poster said: “I was recently walking my affenpinscher (a toy breed of dog) around the Hanover area of Brighton when I noticed that a wormhole or vortex has opened up on Montreal Road.

“On closer inspection it seems to be some kind of portal to other times, places and dimensions.

“I would have investigated further but I was concerned my little dog would be sucked into it.

CCTV footage: Angry ghost pushes over stack of boxes (video)

This is the spooky moment CCTV footage captures what appears to be a ghost pushing over a stack of boxes in an indoor market.

Traders were shocked to find the boxes strewn over the floor when they arrived for work at Wellington Indoor Market in Telford, Shrops.

But their shock turned to terror when they played back the CCTV footage - and caught the apparent culprit.

The video shows what appears to be a shadowy figure climbing the stairs of the market before pushing over the boxes.

Market manager Kay Boakye said: "We came into the market in the morning and the boxes were all over the place, on the floor and over the stairs.

"We thought there had been an intruder so we obviously went straight to the CCTV.

"We couldn’t believe what we saw. All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

CCTV footage, Is there a ghost at Exmouth Rugby Club? (video)

The CCTV shows spooked bar staff giving the bell a cautious berth as it springs to life mid-afternoonSpooked pub staff believe their bar is haunted by the ghost of a former drinker who recently died - after its bell appeared to signal last orders by itself.Bar workers believe the spirit of Nigel Harris, 64, is ringing time from beyond the grave at Exmouth Rugby Club in Devon.

They say the last order bell has been sounding unmanned and believe Mr Harris, a popular customer of 30 years who recently passed away, is haunting them.


One incident was captured on the clubhouse CCTV camera but when bosses rewound the tape they couldn't see any evidence of a prank.


Barmaid Tasmyn Burns, 19, was serving pints when the bell rang out on a Sunday afternoon.


She said: 'It made us all jump because it was ringing so loud. It was really being yanked with some force. 
 
'I thought someone may have been playing a joke or something so I was shocked when I saw no one else was there.


Catalogue of historic pubs includes a weeping ghost


AN Oxford pub housing a collection of 5,000 ties and an inn with a weeping ghost are featured in a new handbook on the nation’s most historic watering holes.

Ye Olde Good Inn Guide, published by The History Press, includes The Bear Inn, Oxford, which claims to be one of the oldest public houses in England, dating back to 1242.

The Bear’s circa-17th century incarnation stands in Alfred Street, and generations of residents and tourists have sacrificed their neck-wear for a drink.

John Chipperfield, who compiles the Oxford Mail’s Memory Lane feature, said: “The practice of taking ties began in 1954 by the then landlord (and former Oxford Mail cartoonist) Alan Course.

“Anyone who came in with a tie had it cut halfway down (the owner kept the bit round the neck and Alan swiped the bit at the bottom for his collection). The donor then got a free pint for his trouble.”

Another pub featured in the book is The George Hotel in High Street, Wallingford, previously the George & Dragon.

Judy Dewey, curator of Wallingford Museum, said: “On March 3, 1626, a man called John Hobson was stabbed to death during a fight at a pub, probably the George & Dragon.

“Hobson’s fiancée was so distraught that she locked herself in an upstairs room and painted markings on the walls with her tears mixed with soot from the fire.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Sold Ebay painting was returned due to haunting.

This is another item that was sold on Ebay, but this time it was return because it might actually be haunted.

This is from the seller:

Her name is Addie and she belonged to an older woman and was said the they had a long time relationship,and were always talking to each other.She called her,"her Sweet Addie."

When the daughter blew into town about twice a year.She would spend several nights with her mother but insisted that she would cover Addie up because she gave her the creeps and would STARE at her wherever she was in the room.


The people that got a hold of her was at a estate auction that the daughter held after her mother had pasted. 


Told the people that the painting was talking to her and just wanted it gone,sold!

They kept her and saw smoke coming from her and orbs flying around and had checked her out to be 100% haunted!



Haunted Antique Dibbuk Box up for auction on Ebay

Well there's a Dibbuk Box up for auction on Ebay, so far the bidding is up to $202.50 with 6 bids. I wonder if all the hype regarding the paranormal, make people sell things for quick cash. I wonder if this is real or just a hoax.

Either way I'm not going to by it, and I wonder if we'll ever hear from the person that does.

The Folklore: 

The dybbuk box, or dibbuk box (Hebrew: קופסאת דיבוק, Kufsat Dibbuk), is a wine cabinet which is said to be haunted by a dybbuk. In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a restless, usually malicious, spirit believed to be able to haunt and even possess the living. 

This is a quote from the seller:

Well i got this box from a storage auction last year and it is so haunted , My house was already haunted but this thing is crazy.  

The original owners of the unit where Jewish, and very religious! 

The first night i brought it home the dogs would not stop barking and freaking out, i didn't get any sleep , they could tell... 

Monday, May 13, 2013

One night stay in haunted hotel room up for bid (video)

WINDBER, Pa. — "Just about everybody has a story that comes here ... Hearing footsteps in the hall ... A lot of people mention being touched ... I've seen a chair shift out in front of me and then move to the right."

The former Grand Midway Hotel in Windber has been called one of the most haunted places in western Pennsylvania, with one room in particular that creeps out all of its guests.

The building is now a private home. It's reserved only for friends and family, but 6 News reporter Maria Miller got an exclusive tour of the building on Friday and found out you can, too, if the price is right.

Blair Murphy is an independent filmmaker from Los Angeles. He randomly bought the property with some friends about 10 years ago and quickly turned it into an unusual home.

"There's 32 rooms and each room has a theme. It's a big canvas basically," said Murphy. "I'm an artist and a lot of my friends are artists, so we're cultivating this building into a real landmark. We're trying to, anyway."

But the fixtures and art are not the only things that may look creepy. Murphy said he noticed unusual things happening as soon as he moved in.


Tree Hugging Now Scientifically Validated (video)

Die hard conservatives love to disparage liberals as tree huggers, but it has been recently scientifically validated that hugging trees is actually good for you. Research has shown that you don't even have to touch a tree to get better, you just need to be within its vicinity has a beneficial effect.

In a recently published book, Blinded by Science, the author Matthew Silverstone, proves scientifically that trees do in fact improve many health issues such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), concentration levels, reaction times, depression and other forms of mental illness. He even points to research indicating a tree's ability to alleviate headaches in humans seeking relief by communing with trees.

The author points to a number of studies that have shown that children show significant psychological and physiological improvement in terms of their health and well being when they interact with plants and trees. Specifically, the research indicates that children function better cognitively and emotionally in green environments and have more creative play in green areas. Also, he quotes a major public health report that investigated the association between green spaces and mental health concluded that "access to nature can significantly contribute to our mental capital and wellbeing".


Saturday, May 11, 2013

Unknown Entity Terrorizes Neighborhood in Argentina

ARGENTINA. In the city of La Banda, pronvíncia San Tiago del Estero, a strange "entity" is disturbing the neighborhood of Villa Raquel. There, residents, especially those living in the vicinity of the School 646 Los Pinos, are daunted by the apparitions of a bizarre small creature.

The occurrences and the fears of the local population began after that debris (objects) of rituals, that seem to be satanists or umbandists, appeared on the streets of the neighborhood. Supposedly, there may be a link between the rituals and apparitions of strange being who, it seems, installed himself, mainly, in the building of the School.

The situation of tension is such that that some of the police who make round at the streets near the school - are asking to be transferred after the events. These men do not hide who are terrified by the frequent manifestations of the mysterious "spectrum" and other scary phenomena they see happening overnight.

Dina Gómes, a resident of the street Laprida and Andrea Herrera, owner of a shop situated in front of the school, reported that students comment that a boy, appears seated sitting on the toilet in the bathroom of the institution.

But the "intruder" is not confined to the bathroom, he moves by other luagares in school, and neighborhood. As students have reported, the "alien" when seen, has the appearance and size of a small child but the thing manifests itself invisibly too.
 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

400 people on 1 Ghost Hunt and credibility goes out the window (video)

DETROIT, Mich. (WJBK) - Historic Fort Wayne in Detroit hosted the largest organized ghost hunt in the country Saturday night. Hundreds of people came to search for ghosts and participate in lectures.

The Paranormal Muster was an all-day event featuring vendors, speakers and a round table discussion. Participants also spent hours investigating the Civil War-era fort.

Visitors have reported seeing shadows, seeing lights turn on and off, hearing footsteps and hearing voices on the grounds of the 100-acre Detroit landmark. Ghost hunters have also reported doors opening and closing by themselves.

Monday, May 6, 2013

B and D Burgers poltergeist of Savannah Georgia (video)

Two surveillance videos at B and D Burgers on Congress Street show unexplained events that B and D employees say are just the tip of the iceberg.

“Our general manager Josh will be walking through here and he will hear someone yell “Hey, Josh” and he’ll turn around and nobody is there,” said B and D Burger Employee Michael Rodriguez.

Ryan Dunn of 3D Ghost Hunters and the Low Country Psychic Kelly Spurlock decided to teamed up to see if they could communicate with spirits they believe are in B&D Burger’s basement.

“We have a full spectrum camera that Ryan is using so it will get the whole area, we have grid lights and evp’s, which is electronic voice phenomenon to see if we pick up any voices,” said Spurlock.

Both Ryan and Kelly say it didn’t take long to feel a presence in the room.

“We definitely had some really weird feelings, some high readings on emf, temperature drops and we caught some really dizzy feelings in there as well,” said Dunn.

“We all smelled perfume all at once, which none of us ladies had on and when we mentioned brothel or lady of the night, it suddenly got stronger,” said Spurlock.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Should We Fear The Rise Of The Robots? (video)

Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google appear at th...In the Terminator series, John Connor and his mother fight to prevent Judgement Day, the moment when the computer system Skynet becomes self aware, decides humans are a threat and moves to wipe us out.

In the real world, we have our own version of Judgement Day called the Singularity and many can’t wait for it to come.

Like in the Terminator, it is the moment when computers take over, but rather than killing us off, the machines enhance our capabilities.

Some have called the Singularity a nerd rapture and its prophet is Ray Kurzweil, one of the world’s foremost experts on artificial intelligence and Google’s new Director of Engineering.  In his new position, he will direct a good portion of the company’s $6.7 billion R&D budget to making his vision come true.  Like it or not, science fiction is becoming science fact.

The Rise of the Robots

In February 2011, the game show Jeopardy! held a special competition.  As usual, there were three contestants, except one of them was not a human, but IBM’s Watson, a supercomputer.

Despite the format of the game, in which intuition is as important as intelligence, Watson won handily. Ken Jennings, one of the contestants and the show’s all-time money winner, wrote as his final answer, “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.”