Miscellaneous

A rare and valuable complete set of 52 silver playing cards gilded in gold has been uncovered.The set dates back to 1616 when it was created in Germany by Michael Frömmer. It is said that the set once belonged to a Portuguese princess who escaped the country in 1807 during an invasion by Napoleon"s forces. The cards come from a time when no standard set ofplaying cards existed and are based on suits used in Italy - swords, coins, batons and cups.The materials and craftsmanship that went in to the construction of the deck coupled with how old it is and the fact that it"s complete make the cards a particularly rare discovery.

On the cards, two of the kings are depicted wearing ancient Roman clothing while one is depicted as a Holy Roman Emperor and another isdressed up as a Sultan, with clothing seen in the Middle East.  

View: Full article |  Source: Live Science  

The monster storm uprooted a tree in Connecticut with something unexpected buried underneath.New Haven experienced 40 to 70 mile per hour winds during the storm resulting in downed power cables, flooding and the uprooting of trees. One downed oak tree in particular soon become the subject of attention after 200-year-old skeletal remains were found buried underneath it. It is thought that the bones belonged toa victim of either smallpox or yellow fever and would been buried on the town green between 1799 and 1821.When word got out about the discovery a significant number of locals gathered on the green to catch a glimpse of the remains.

"It was a great deal of fun, with no disrespect intended to the dead of course," said police spokesman David Hartman. "It was good Halloween stuff." Headstones for those buried below the green were moved to a local cemetery in1821, but the bodies of potentially thousands of residents were never relocated, he said.  

View: Full article |  Source: Reuters  

The media tends to play a significant role in people"s paranormal perceptions and beliefs.With stories about paranormal investigations dominating the papers and shows such as "Ghost Hunters" proving a ratings hit, it could be argued that interest in the unexplained is going from strength to strength. But how much does the media"s presentation of these topics influence how people believe in them ?Professor Paul Brewer conducted his own investigation to find out.Brewer found that what most encouraged people to believe in a story or TV show was the way in which the scientific aspects were presented.

A story that describes how paranormal investigators used EMF meters and scientific methods to investigate a haunted location for example is a lot more likely to be believed. The paranormal is a popular and enduring theme in the media, stretchingfrom Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula to the newest installment of Paranormal Activity, which opened last week.  

View: Full article |  Source: Red Orbit  

The hunt for a long lost Da Vinci masterpiece beneath a fresco in Florence has been called off.Often likened to Dan Brown"s "The Da Vinci Code", the whereabouts of Da Vinci"s "The Battle of Anghiari" remains a mystery. The painting was commissioned by officials of the time to commemorate a military victory in 1440 and records indicate that Da Vinci started work on it in 1505. The work was never completed however due to problems he encountered as a result of anew type of paint application process he was experimenting with.Today the original work remains undiscovered and the only indication of what it had been like comes in the form of preparatory sketches and copies.

A recent project to investigate the idea that the painting was behind a fresco in Florence initially provided promising results but was ultimately canceled due to concerns over damage to the overlying mural. The controversial effort to find out whether a long-lost Leonardo da Vinci masterpiecelies beneath a fresco in Florence has been suspended without resolving a mystery that some have compared to a "Da Vinci Code" riddle.  

View: Full article |  Source: NBC News