Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found in Mexico

original article (Reuters)

"MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld."

According to an ancient Mayan scripture, the Popol Vuh, the route was filled with obstacles, including rivers filled with scorpions, blood and pus and houses shrouded in darkness or swarming with shrieking bats, Guillermo de Anda, one of the lead investigators at the site, said on Thursday.

How would you like to go trick-or-treating there? Can you say freaky?

Wanna Swat a Fly?

 

Takeoff (click to read story and see videos)

Morning Edition, August 29, 2008 · Flies In Danger Escape With Safety Dance - 

You may think you know how to swat a fly, but Michael Dickinson's work could teach you a thing or two. 

Dickinson used superslow-motion video cameras to study how a fly avoids getting swatted.

The video camera captures 5,400 frames per second.

Make a million on Facebook?

Google Reader (1000+):

"Facebook is a famously difficult place to make money. Despite the popularity of the social network, most ads go for pennies per thousand impressions (CPMs). Even Social Media, a Facebook ad network that is able to get effective CPMs of about 50 cents, has only paid out a little more than $8 million total to application developers since it launched a year ago.

Read the rest of the article here.

Buying in Bear Markets | Market Pessimism

"I will tell you how to become rich. … Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful."
-- Warren Buffett

What makes Buffett's quote especially relevant today is the following bit of information:

A recent New York Times article pointed out that bearish sentiment, as measured by the Conference Board, has hit an all-time high. Fully 55% of the people questioned in July expect the stock market to decline over the next 12 months.

Why is this important today? Because each time the bearish sentiment has exceeded 35% over the past 21 years, the market has confounded that sentiment by gaining ground over the following year, at an average pace of 20.5%.

from: The Fool

Dealing with Business Debt

Finding myself in a precarious situation from a business perspective I found this site and article useful:

Note: As far as Vitals are concerned, we say “tough times call for tough decisions”. When you’re in a serious

financial predicament you may have to find new suppliers and resources. The truth is that some creditors will do business with you on a COD or cash basis while you negotiate a past due balance with them. If they refuse to do business with you, their competitors may jump at the opportunity. Remember, the primary goal of a restructuring is to satisfy the debts owed to your creditors. Preserving a relationship is nice, but secondary to your ultimate goal.

From Jerry Silberman - companydebts.com

How fast do snails travel?

A snail crawls about 2.5 meters in an hour.

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