Latest news with #ShroudofTurin
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious landmarks on Mars have been discovered by NASA
NASA has shared images of bizarre looking landmarks on Mars over the years — prompting many to debate the possibility that the Red Planet was once home to aliens. Our fascination with Mars is one which simply refuses to die. As one of Earth's closest neighbours and one of the more likely candidates for life - let's be honest, nobody is surviving on the gassy giants such as Jupiter and Saturn - the Red Planet remains one of the focal points in our search for a lost alien civilisation. Often living up to its nickname, Mars often looks like a desolate red wasteland in images shared by NASA. However this hasn't stopped online sleuths from pouring over satellite imagery in hopes of finding signs of life. And of course, anyone who looks long enough is bound to find something. One particular image which has captured the attention of alien sleuths is the image of an 'exclamation mark' landmark on the planet. Captured in 2011 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the spacecraft was able to capture the image of what appeared to be a giant exclamation mark on the Libya Montes highland area of the Mars. Could this be finally be evidence of the long lost alien civilisation we've all been looking for? As always, it depends on who you ask. One supporter of this theory is George J. Haas, founder of Mars research group The Cydonia Institute, who recently told MailOnline: "You don't have to be a geologist to know the difference between a rock and a sculpture." "There's no way you can explain that keyhole formation," he continued, adding: "The natural creation of two opposing geometrically designed formations seems to go well beyond the probability of chance." The 'exclamation mark' isn't the only landmark which Haas has flagged as suspicious over the years either, with the author highlighting images such as pyramid-like structures which were captured by astronomer Carl Sagan in 1972 as well as geometric patterns which resemble ancient cities and the infamous 'face' in the planet's Cydonia region. However, not everyone would agree, with many scientists arguing that it is all down to a phenomena known as the 'pareidolia effect'. A blog post from The Planetary Society has since branded the image as one of the many examples of 'pareidolia', which is the phenomenon in which humans are able to perceive shapes and patterns in completely random images. Common examples of pareidolia include seeing faces in inanimate objects such as clouds, the face of Jesus in the Shroud of Turin, underwater 'pyramids' or 'structures' on Mars.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How tax rules our politics (and lives)
Tax lawyer and journalist Dan Neidle opened his series Untaxing (Radio 4) with two extraordinary statements. One, that he was going to show how tax is one of the most significant and consequential forces in our lives. Two, that Albert Einstein was wrong about tax when he said it was the most difficult thing in the world to understand. Far be it from me to argue about tax with a man who founded a think tank called Tax Policy Associates and who advises the Scottish Government (among others) on tax issues, but his first point hardly needs proving to anyone. Ever since we learnt the story of Robin Hood, we've known tax as a fifth element in our lives. As for Einstein, well, having listened ahead to all five episodes of Untaxing, I am tempted to agree with the physicist. Neidle's series makes our tax systems seem arcane, opaque, fantastical, occasionally deranged, often frustrating and always baffling. Despite that – or perhaps because of it – it's a terrific series, filled with anecdote and insight, that will leave you with the feeling you should pay far more attention to tax beyond your payslip, the Budget and the adventures of Little John et al. Monday's opener was all about a napkin – 'the napkin that changed the world' – and revealed both Neidle's ability to zero in on quirks of history that prove to be seismic and how ideology and politicking give tax a bad name. The napkin was on a restaurant table in Washington DC in 1974, and scribbling on it was a young economist named Arthur Laffer. Watching him doodle a graph, with ever-widening eyes, were White House officials Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. What the doodle 'proved' was that if you raise taxes too much, revenues will actually go down. Though disputed, the 'Laffer Curve' is still popular today – it is regularly cited by, among others, Liz Truss, while in 2019 Donald Trump awarded Laffer the Presidential Medal of Freedom, referencing the famous napkin. The napkin is a Shroud of Turin for those who seek low taxation, but tax ideology works both ways. Recently, the Scottish Government raised the top rate of income tax to 48 per cent, which some believe will scare off higher earners and lead to less revenue. And what did Neidle and his colleagues at the Scottish Government's Tax Advisory Group have to say about this? 'Nothing,' said Neidle. 'Because they didn't ask us. It was pure politics.' More tax theory drawn up on the back of napkins. Yesterday delved into the murky story of the Beatles' inventive but ultimately flawed efforts to avoid income tax (surely Eleanor Rigby would have benefited from some of their revenues?), a tale that ultimately ended in Michael Jackson selling the rights to Lennon & McCartney's songs to pay his own tax bill. Today's episode is on Jaffa Cakes, tomorrow's on a porn-star lawyer who played a part in the downfall of Rangers Football Club. Neidle cherrypicks the minutiae expertly. The overall impression is of the British tax system as a towering, teetering, rickety old building, with extension built upon extension, and all sorts of oddities lurking in the basement. Five 15-minute episodes isn't nearly enough – I hope Radio 4 have Neidle back soon. Also managing to be riveting on an ostensibly dry economic subject was Invisible Hands (Radio 4), which is looking at the birth of the free market. That it's so compelling is no surprise, given that the man behind it is David Dimbleby, who shares Neidle's ability to extrapolate world-changing ideas from the smallest of moments. This first episode, for instance, found the origins of the free market in the downing of a Hurricane fighter plane in August 1940, the Egg Marketing Board and a copy of the Reader's Digest. Jo Barratt's production had the swing and sway (and the background music) of a juicy true-crime podcast, with Dimbleby gamely showing he could mix it with the young pups of podcasting. Here, it's all about storytelling. 'It turns out it's a much stranger story than you can imagine,' began Dimbleby, as the music grew more insistent. It's shameless, but I was hooked. And when that Reader's Digest came along, Dimbleby introduced it like this: 'A magazine that would change the course of Antony Fisher's life… and the history of this country – forever.' He even gave us the little details – in that edition, alongside the all-important article The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek, were pieces on 'strange animal friendships, the beard of Joseph Palmer and shepherds of the underground', a list of subjects that would fit quite pleasingly into Radio 4's schedules. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
02-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
How tax rules our politics (and lives)
Tax lawyer and journalist Dan Neidle opened his series Untaxing (Radio 4) with two extraordinary statements. One, that he was going to show how tax is one of the most significant and consequential forces in our lives. Two, that Albert Einstein was wrong about tax when he said it was the most difficult thing in the world to understand. Far be it from me to argue about tax with a man who founded a think tank called Tax Policy Associates and who advises the Scottish Government (among others) on tax issues, but his first point hardly needs proving to anyone. Ever since we learnt the story of Robin Hood, we've known tax as a fifth element in our lives. As for Einstein, well, having listened ahead to all five episodes of Untaxing, I am tempted to agree with the physicist. Neidle's series makes our tax systems seem arcane, opaque, fantastical, occasionally deranged, often frustrating and always baffling. Despite that – or perhaps because of it – it's a terrific series, filled with anecdote and insight, that will leave you with the feeling you should pay far more attention to tax beyond your payslip, the Budget and the adventures of Little John et al. Monday's opener was all about a napkin – 'the napkin that changed the world' – and revealed both Neidle's ability to zero in on quirks of history that prove to be seismic and how ideology and politicking give tax a bad name. The napkin was on a restaurant table in Washington DC in 1974, and scribbling on it was a young economist named Arthur Laffer. Watching him doodle a graph, with ever-widening eyes, were White House officials Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. What the doodle 'proved' was that if you raise taxes too much, revenues will actually go down. Though disputed, the 'Laffer Curve' is still popular today – it is regularly cited by, among others, Liz Truss, while in 2019 Donald Trump awarded Laffer the Presidential Medal of Freedom, referencing the famous napkin. The napkin is a Shroud of Turin for those who seek low taxation, but tax ideology works both ways. Recently, the Scottish Government raised the top rate of income tax to 48 per cent, which some believe will scare off higher earners and lead to less revenue. And what did Neidle and his colleagues at the Scottish Government's Tax Advisory Group have to say about this? 'Nothing,' said Neidle. 'Because they didn't ask us. It was pure politics.' More tax theory drawn up on the back of napkins. Yesterday delved into the murky story of the Beatles ' inventive but ultimately flawed efforts to avoid income tax (surely Eleanor Rigby would have benefited from some of their revenues?), a tale that ultimately ended in Michael Jackson selling the rights to Lennon & McCartney's songs to pay his own tax bill. Today's episode is on Jaffa Cakes, tomorrow's on a porn-star lawyer who played a part in the downfall of Rangers Football Club. Neidle cherrypicks the minutiae expertly. The overall impression is of the British tax system as a towering, teetering, rickety old building, with extension built upon extension, and all sorts of oddities lurking in the basement. Five 15-minute episodes isn't nearly enough – I hope Radio 4 have Neidle back soon. Also managing to be riveting on an ostensibly dry economic subject was Invisible Hands (Radio 4), which is looking at the birth of the free market. That it's so compelling is no surprise, given that the man behind it is David Dimbleby, who shares Neidle's ability to extrapolate world-changing ideas from the smallest of moments. This first episode, for instance, found the origins of the free market in the downing of a Hurricane fighter plane in August 1940, the Egg Marketing Board and a copy of the Reader's Digest. Jo Barratt's production had the swing and sway (and the background music) of a juicy true-crime podcast, with Dimbleby gamely showing he could mix it with the young pups of podcasting. Here, it's all about storytelling. 'It turns out it's a much stranger story than you can imagine,' began Dimbleby, as the music grew more insistent. It's shameless, but I was hooked. And when that Reader's Digest came along, Dimbleby introduced it like this: 'A magazine that would change the course of Antony Fisher's life… and the history of this country – forever.' He even gave us the little details – in that edition, alongside the all-important article The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek, were pieces on 'strange animal friendships, the beard of Joseph Palmer and shepherds of the underground', a list of subjects that would fit quite pleasingly into Radio 4's schedules.
The Onion
27-03-2025
- General
- The Onion
Cardinals Begin Placing Stickers On Vatican Relics They Want When Pope Francis Dies
VATICAN CITY—With many remarking that they'd had their eyes on the holy artifacts since they first saw them, cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church reportedly began placing stickers this week on the Vatican relics they wanted when Pope Francis dies. 'I'll take these fragments of the true cross, I'll take St. Peter's bones, and before someone else claims it, I'll take the Shroud of Turin,' said His Eminence Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, who placed an adhesive red dot onto the Veil of Veronica and remarked that it would bring a much needed pop of color to his otherwise drab bedroom. 'Honestly, Pope Francis and I already talked about my inheritance, but I don't want to miss out on the good stuff like I did when John Paul died. There's no way Cardinal Mamberti is getting his grubby little hands on my crown of thorn fragments. Or my favorite, the holy foreskin.' At press time, Cardinal Re was kicking himself after a fellow prelate had beaten him to the punch and placed a sticker on the Holy Lance.
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Shroud of Turin replica goes on display in Grantham
A replica of the Shroud of Turin is being shown in Lincolnshire. The 4.4m-long (14ft) replica, made using laser technology, is on display at St Wulfram's in Grantham until 3 is a replica of the original linen cloth, which is said to be the burial cloth that was wrapped around Jesus' body after the copy was displayed for the first time in England at Crowland Abbey last year. Brother John Michael, guardian of the replica, said he was "overwhelmed" by the turnout last year and the "interest was incredible". Brother John is a part of Templars Today - a community interest company aiming to end hate and preserve group said everyone was welcome to attend the exhibition, including those who are non-religious."You can dispel the religious part of it because it's actually a factual item and proven by science," Brother John said."Everyone comes in with a preconceived conception of what we're doing, why we're doing it and they have personal opinions of the authenticity of the shroud."We hold the scientific facts that have been used to disprove it over the past few years."The Catholic Church takes no official position on the authenticity of the shroud, which is kept at Turin since radiocarbon dating in 1989 proclaimed the cloth to be 700 years old, the Church has stirred away from saying it was anything but an "icon" of Christian devotion. Brother John said the replica was made to tour Britain because the original shroud only comes out once every five years due to its age and different elements in the air starting to affect said the replica, which has previously been on show in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, is kept in a "very safe place"."We don't keep it in the home. It's too precious. It's too much of a risk being near a fire, which, of course, the original one was in several fires," he exhibition is free, but donations to the church's running costs are encouraged. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
