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Technology Spontaneously Combusts In Sicily
Zacronos writes "According to MSNBC, ever since mid-January, various electronic devices have been spontaneously combusting in the now evacuated town of Canneto di Caronia, Sicily; at this point, the fires are almost daily. The town has been disconnected from the larger electrical grid and was hooked to a generator, but that, too, caught fire. Even unplugged items have succumbed. Nothing seems to have burst into flame except where there is someone present to witness it, but the police no longer suspect a prankster -- after witnessing wires catch fire without cause. Scientists have yet to explain the phenomenon (although unproven theories abound), leading many people to look to supernatural causes."
Many many people will soon flock to Sicily to see the virgin Mary.
Sadly, in the news, a number of faithful Catholics have suddenly burst into flames today.
UID 1000000 is just around the corner.
Obviously, if they were running Linux this wouldn't be happening now would it?
"Shredded cabbage and mayo go good together." Cole's Law
From the article: "We're working in the dark. We don't have a single lead so far," said Pedro Spinnato, mayor of the trio of Caronia towns.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Bah - I'm from Sicily and this story is a complete load of **BZZZZZZZZTT*
NO CARRIER
...Colored markings on the street indicate the presence of volcano experts...
Sweet jumpin' Jesus! The volcano 'experts' must have burned up and left little *poof* marks where they stood.
Scientists have yet to explain the phenomenon ... leading many people to look to supernatural causes
It really makes me sad when, if people don't understand something they assume it's magic. Why is it that so many people refuse to take 'we don't know yet' as an acceptable answer?
Science: 0
Magic: 1
:/
-Colin
No, it is not an April Fools joke. For details, see http://www.ebicom.net/~rsf1/canneto.htm that has been covering events for 5 weeks already.
You mean if any kind of EMP is the cause of you thinking?
I find this a good example of those phenomena that science can't yet explain. I'm often amused by science types that say something is impossible because it doesn't fit any current theory.
Seems to me any true scientist should always be watching for observations that don't fit the known theory, as they are indicators of a nedd for further refinement.
Sadly, scientists, like most people, are more interested in being right, and tend to look for confirming evidence, sometimes to the detriment of their conclusions.
Before you flame me as an anti-science zealot, let me confess that I'm a science guy as much as your average geek, and I think science is responsible for most of the good changes of the last few centuries. I just think that when we hold too tight to our theories, we leave the realm of skeptical science and enter the world of blind faith.
BTW, I have no plausible explanation for the spontaneous fires. But I am confident that someone will come up wih one that doesn't invole a tinfoil hat.
OK, Can any sicilian slashdotter with a carrier pigeon or a battery powered CB radio confirm this?
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Believe or not, similar incidents have occurred before.
o 1945 - A village a short distance from Almera in Spain (New York Time 5th July 1945).
o 1983 - A small coal town in West Virginia, Wharncliffe (Housten Post 16th June 1983 and Columbus Dispatch 24th July 1983)
o 1990 - San Gottardo in the Berici Hills of Italy
(UK Sunday Express 11th March 1990 and The Guardian 22nd March 1990)
I've given you references so you can check them out for yourself.
(posted anonymously to avoid Slashdotters you refuse to think about things which don't fit inside their predefined universe).
2. America is one of the few nations in the world where the power going out or setting firest makes the news, in most of the world it happens daily.
3. About a decade ago Italy ruled their version of the FCC incompetent and disbanded them. Though there are EU rules to deal with, it is a wild west of wireless where you can send photon-torpedo strength EMI around with no-one to slap you until the mobs find you.
The common thread in the fires is objects connected to wires, whether powered wires or not. Wires are after all antennas though the matching frequency depends on length. It's well known in RF engineering that under the right circumstances, RF energy can cause high temperatures at impedance boundaries. Quite possibly some high power RF source is causing the phenomena. One of my guesses is energy bouncing off the ionosphere and coming from far away, maybe the US military's HAARP, or something the Russians have. The fact that all the occurrences are in one tiny village midway between some railroad lines and the ocean is odd since nothing industrial or military is nearby. I'd say it's accidental and the result of military testing elsewhere.
Doesn't need to be EMP. A continous Tesla-style resonant earth antenna can create "hot zones" where ground... isn't...
::Smiles at the idea of a carrier pigeon bursting into flame as soon as a message is attatched to its leg because it now falls under the 'technology' category::
-Colin
I think they were testing BPL in this region....Natural resonances of power systems are a phenomena which is very little known in this sort of region.
Another big hint: they said the'd disconnected the town from the power system. If they still had a connection somewhere to the grid that they didn't know about, that would set them up for more problems. (Mixing grounds from different phases is a NONO... I've experienced really bad RF just trying to use a radio that was running on gen power and a computer on shore at the same time.)
-=fshalor
Well, The Register's article is dated February 11, 2004.
And the muscular cyborg German dudes dance with sexy French Canadians
I'm a Sicilian (I live in Catania) and I can confirm that the news is real. At first the police thought of fraudulent actions from unknown people but after some weeks 3-4 policemans saw some electric cables (old cables, unconnected and resting on floor) that started spontaneously to combust. After that many scientists and technicians have done many tests without results. Those events are happening only in a very little town near the city of Messina.
First of all, this is pretty old news in Italy.
Here is CICAP entry on this phenomenon (in Italian sorry).
CICAP is a group of scientists who routinely investigate (and debunk) any so-called supernatural phenomenon in Italy (they cover anything: ESP, religious miracles, even omeopathy). Sort of a James Randi fan club.
I suppose most of Slashdot's reader cannot read Italian: the gist of it is that they suspect a prank. According to similar phenomena they investigated in the past, the first accidents are caused by natural causes (short-circuits, overload).
But then people start talking, and making hypotesis, and someone starts causing this as a prank or a way to get attention, media coverage etc. Then CICAP arrives, and start looking aroud, and everything goes back to normal.
CICAP sums this as follows: 100% of phenomena happen when controls are at 0% 0% of phenomena happen when controls are at 100%
I would suggest they start with several teams with fied strength meters looking for the guy doing Tesla tests...
my EE professor back in college demonstrated Nicolai Tesla's theories and designs by powering a electronic device from across the room and with no wires. he also warned all of us to NOT bring any electronic equipment and everyone in the Engineering building was also warned as well were PC's removed from the building.
he was generating a field strength that pegged a standard meter 500 feet from the building.
Tesla was going to generate much HIGHER atmosphereic voltages with his tower...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Why do you think some of the most religious people are often absolute morons, and many intelligent, well-educated people often aren't highly religious? Idiots need an explanation for everything, intelligent people seek answers and do not believe in what they cannot prove to themselves.
You know, I used to think that, too. Then I realized that there are an awful lot of really smart people that are extremely religious, too. Albert Einstein, if I recall correctly, was a devout believer. Isaac Newton, when he was developing calculus and his theory of gravity, was trying to understand God.
It is the desire to understand God that has driven virtually all of scientific history, from Galileo to Planck, and only recently has science been transformed into only the desire to undersand our world. And even then, anyone with half a brain would see that we're really juyst trying to understand what God has given us, if you believe in God (see below). Of the viewpoint that I'm trying to expouse in this paragraph, I can't think of anything that can articulate it better the the end of the movie Contact.
I have come to the belief that religion is not about whether you can explain it or not, or even if it makes sense. If it had to make sense, there wouldn't be any Mormons or Scientologists. But all it really requires for belief in God is exactly that -- belief.
I for one do not actually believe. But I can see the draws to belief, and they are so strong that I sometimes have think twice about my reactions. Am I particularly bright? I don't think so. But neither do I think I'm really dumb.
So what's my point? Well, I guess it's that the part of your post I'm quoting was idiotic and immature, born of a sense of moral superiority for your beliefs and contempt for the viewpoints of others. I used to be the same way; only recently, I saw the errors of that way of thinking, and have become more tolerant and open-minded towards people who beilve in God, Allah, Krishna, Zeus, Ra, or whatever faith you believe in. The rest of your post, on it's own merits, I belive to be accurate; however, in light of the point you were trying to make, is wholly inaccurate and inadequate as to what religion actually provides a society.
After all, after everything is said and done, you can't DISPROVE God; absence of proof is not proof of absence. Since you can't disprove it, you have to take into account that God is possible. Belief in God is just as credible -- not more than, and not less than (and that's the key point) -- as my belief that God does not actually exist, and is in fact a creation of our own minds.
Although maybe one of these days I'll be proven wrong. I look forward to that day.
Responses are welcome; this is the biggest area that I spend idle moments thinking.
weylin
67.5% Slashdot Pure I guess I need to work on that....
I think religion is probably the greatest scam ever invented.
...
Behind Health Insurance, you mean
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I thought this was a nerd site!
It's obvious what this is; the barrier between the normal world and faerie is coming down; look for reports of weird creatures in the nearby hills, similar things happening in various spots around the world as the local rules of physics change.
It's FULLY detailed in the Shadowrun or Dark Conspiracy sourcebooks.
Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
Bah
It's that giant subwoofer the one guy built...
what makes you think my religion, the religion of the oldest know civilized people is not right?
SIG: HUP
Knight 1: Maybe he spontaneously combusted before he could finish?
Knight 2: He wouldn't say **BZZZZZZZZTT*, he'd just say it!
Knight 1: Maybe he was dictating.
If he substituted "Buddha" and "Tao", would it make a difference?
You are condemning him as a "nut-job" just because he used two key-words specific to his religion. You sound Jesusphobic.