On this episode of Expanded Perspectives Elite the guys start the conversation off by talking about how Dutch scientists said Thursday crops of four vegetables and cereals grown on soil similar to that on Mars have been found safe to eat, amid plans for the first manned mission to the planet. Abundant harvests of radishes, peas, rye and tomatoes all grown on the soil were found to contain “no dangerous levels” of heavy metals, said the team from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Then, a vast, largely unexplored world is being opened by hobbyists piloting robotic submarines capable of traveling hundreds of feet below the surface of lakes, rivers and oceans. Styling themselves as citizen scientists, two young engineers, Eric Stackpole and David Lang, have created OpenROV, a small start-up based in Berkeley, Calif., that builds submarine drone kits. They hope to create a mirror image of the airborne drone craze.
Then, across 163 different countries, 1,000 natural and cultural historic places constitute our most precious human heritage. UNESCO calls them World Heritage Sites, and they range from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s endangered Virunga National Park to Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra to Mount Rushmore in the U.S. We lose a little of that heritage every day. War, climate change and pollution take a toll, as do wind and rain. Already gone are the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan (dynamited by the Taliban in 2001) and Palmyra (partially destroyed by ISIS in 2015). The $4 million a year that UNESCO allocates for preservation is not nearly enough to take care of even the four dozen sites considered at imminent risk of being lost forever. But there is an alternative. New digital-conservation technologies let us hold on to them, at least virtually, through 3-D scanning, modeling and digital storage. Such projects can be accomplished through partnerships of governments, universities, industry and nonprofits. Then, an Alabama man on Sunday claimed he saw a Bigfoot creature in the southeastern part of the state. Finally, after the break Cam brings up the lesser known Murphysboro Mud Monster. Thanks for listening and supporting Expanded Perspectives Elite. Have a great weekend.
Show Notes:
- Dutch Crops Grown on “Mars” Soil Found Safe to Eat http://phys.org/news/2016-06-dutch-crops-grown-mars-soil.html#jCp
- A Drone Start UP Explores Underwater http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/27/technology/a-drone-start-up-explores-underwater.html?_r=0
- 3-D Digital Modeling Can Preserve Endangered Historic Sites Forever http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-d-digital-modeling-can-preserve-endangered-historic-sites-forever/
- Alabama Man Claims “Bigfoot” Close Encounter http://cryptozoologynews.com/alabama-man-claims-bigfoot-close-encounter/
- The Murphysboro Mud Monster http://www.prairieghosts.com/mudmonster.html
- Dogman Symposium 2016 http://dogman.weirdlectures.com
Music:
All music for Expanded Perspectives Elite is provided by permission from The Black Angels http://theblackangels.com and Pretty Lights http://prettylightsmusic.com
Songs Used:
- Young Men Dead
- Gold Coast Hustle
- Where Am I Trying To Go (Marvel Years Remix)
- Lost and Found