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Thread: aye, here there be Dragons...

  1. #91
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    To play devil's advocate:
    They are discovering new species of animals almost every year.
    You just never know.
    Psalms 144:1
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    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

  2. #92
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    Actually, someone might be surprised at how many possibilities in this world I'm open to. Including the possibility that in certain instances, sightings of unknown animals or beings may very well be real but not 100% of a physical nature (or at least as we understand the concept of 'physical'). But that opens up a whole new can of worms I'd rather not go into.

    The problem I have is that nowadays, with editing and CGI technology, video evidence is difficult to verify as 'real', or at least as not tampered with. So many videos touted online as 'real this' or 'real that' are clearly BS. In one instance I recall, a vid claiming to be real proof of 'Nessie' was a piece of footage taken from the 2007 movie The Water Horse. In other cases, there were misidentifications of known animals seen from odd angles, or homemade CGI effects.

    This latest video could very well be genuine, with no trickery or misidentification. Assuming it isn't fake, it does appear reptilian, and its wings appear almost batlike.

    Possibilities.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 10-25-2016 at 07:47 AM.

  3. #93
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    This is awesome

    There's a vid behind the link.
    You’re dragon me on! The moment villagers crowd around ‘dragon bones’ that have been left by pranksters in China
    The peculiar skeleton measures at least 60ft and has two odd little 'arms'
    It was found in a field in Zhangjiakou City, in China's northern Hebei Province
    Some locals have claimed that it is proof the mythical dragon exists
    But the head looks suspiciously like a cow skull and some say it is a film prop
    By Liz Dunphy For Mailonline
    PUBLISHED: 05:50 EDT, 17 October 2017 | UPDATED: 09:57 EDT, 17 October 2017

    A dead 'dragon' has been discovered by residents of a Chinese village who claim that the bizarre skeleton is proof that the mythical creature actually exists.

    The peculiarly long skeleton measures at least 60ft, has two incongruous little 'arms' jutting out in the centre and a head that looks suspiciously like a cow skull.

    It was found laid out in a field in Zhangjiakou City, in China's northern Hebei Province.

    Unlike dragons depicted in Western mythology, traditional Chinese dragons have no wings and fly by 'swimming' through the air much like how snakes slither along the ground.

    The anatomy of the strange skeleton thereby convinced some locals that the remains could indeed be a dragon.

    Footage taken by various witnesses at the scene shows dozens of villagers surrounding the suspected dragon remains.

    The villagers are not sure what to make of the skeleton, but a superstitious few seemed convinced that they were indeed looking at the remains of the mythical creature.

    Netizens on Chinese social media said the ribby skeleton appeared to have been placed there intentionally, perhaps as a prop for a movie, but so far no one has come forwards to confirm these claims.

    On the website, www.wukong.com, people wrote that the skeleton looked like a movie prop made with cow or sheep bones.


    The 'dragon' head looks remarkably like a cow skull and some people have claimed online that the many bones that make up its body look like cow and sheep bones

    A writer on the website also posted a picture of locals 'riding' the creature and said that the picture was proof that they knew it was a prank.

    They wrote: 'The villagers were riding on it and having pictures taken, they showed no respect so it was obvious that they knew what it was.'

    Local authorities in Zhangjiakou have also yet to release a statement about the so-called dragon remains.

    Regardless of the skeleton's origins, the video has been viewed more than 10 million times already so it is proving a popular hoax.


    This picture (left) emerged on Chinese media which shows locals 'riding' the skeleton. It was suggested that the locals really knew that the skeleton was just a prank because if they really did think it was a dragon they would have showed more respect for it
    Gene Ching
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  4. #94
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    ttt for 2018!

    'Amazing dragon': New dinosaur species discovered in China
    Doyle Rice, USA TODAY Published 12:06 p.m. MT July 24, 2018


    An Artists Rendering Of Lingwulong Shenqi Zhang Zongda
    (Photo: Zhang Zongda)

    A new species of dinosaur has been discovered in China, one that pushes back theories about the evolution of some the largest creatures that ever walked the Earth.

    The discovery was announced Tuesday in a study published in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature Communications.

    The 174-million-year-old fossil was found in China's Lingwu region, and was given the name Lingwulong shenqi, which is Chinese for the "Lingwu amazing dragon."

    The new dinosaur was a neosauropod, a group of long-necked vegetarians that include brontosaurus and diplodocus. The creature was likely about 35 to 55 feet long from head to tail.

    Scientists were surprised that the fossil was 15 million years older than any similar dinosaurs and were also surprised at where the dinosaur was found.

    Study co-author Philip Mannion of Imperial College London told the BBC the discovery was "doubly unexpected. Not only is it the oldest member (of this group), but it's the first ever from Asia. For a long time it was thought that neosauropods didn't get into Asia during the Jurassic."

    Lingwulong belonged to a subgroup that previously was thought to have been absent from East Asia, because it evolved after that land mass split from the rest of Pangaea, an ancient supercontinent, according to Reuters.

    The research was led by paleontologist Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who told Reuters that the discovery indicates "that eastern Asia was still connected to other continents at the time."

    National Geographic said that scientists must now consider that neosauropods achieved widespread distribution across Pangaea before it broke up.

    The study concludes that the discovery "reinforces recent suggestions that the Early Jurassic was a critical phase in dinosaur evolution."


    Lingwulong skeletal silhouette showing preserved bones. (Photo: Shi Aijuan)
    Lingwulong shenqi just doesn't roll off the tongue like brontosaurus or triceratops.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #95
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    Dragon of Jupiter

    There's a vid.

    Published 1 day ago
    Mysterious 'creature' spotted in Jupiter's clouds stuns NASA, space enthusiasts
    Jennifer Earl By Jennifer Earl | Fox News

    Mysterious 'creature' spotted in Jupiter's clouds stuns NASA
    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently revealed a new, stunning image from its Juno spacecraft, which is currently circling the giant planet.

    Space enthusiasts have spotted what they claim is a mythical "creature" hidden in the swirls of Jupiter's cloud system.

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently revealed a new, stunning image from its Juno spacecraft, which is currently circling the giant planet. The photo was snapped around 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 29 as the spacecraft made its 16th close flyby around Jupiter, according to a recent news release. At that time, Juno was just 4,400 miles from the floating clouds.

    "A Dragon’s Eye? What do you see within the swirling clouds of Jupiter?" the NASA lab asked on Twitter.

    The question prompted a flurry of responses — with many allowing their imaginations to wander.

    "I see a Squid," one Twitter user replied.


    NASA JPL

    @NASAJPL
    · Nov 9, 2018
    A Dragon’s Eye?
    What do you see within the swirling clouds of Jupiter? https://go.nasa.gov/2Dc9bIL
    ��: @NASAJuno



    ☃️ Noel Blaney ☃️
    @LividLFC
    I see a Squid. pic.twitter.com/BO0Wy4eF4c

    78
    10:05 AM - Nov 9, 2018 · Bangor, Northern Ireland
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    "Quetzalcoatl!" another guessed, referring to an ancient term that translates to "feathered serpent" or "flying reptile."

    NASA JPL

    @NASAJPL
    · Nov 9, 2018
    A Dragon’s Eye?
    What do you see within the swirling clouds of Jupiter? https://go.nasa.gov/2Dc9bIL
    ��: @NASAJuno



    ᶮᵉᵇᶸᶩᵒᶸᶴ⚒
    @MonkeyHeadNeb
    Quetzalcoatl! pic.twitter.com/z1etIUjdJ7

    32
    8:03 AM - Nov 9, 2018
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    "Dragon!!!" one man declared, outlining the picture with colors to form the face of the legendary creature.

    NASA JPL

    @NASAJPL
    · Nov 9, 2018
    A Dragon’s Eye?
    What do you see within the swirling clouds of Jupiter? https://go.nasa.gov/2Dc9bIL
    ��: @NASAJuno



    Astro Yuki ����
    @AstroYuki
    Dragon!!! pic.twitter.com/5y1FjeKOh7

    20
    8:47 AM - Nov 9, 2018
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    The colorful image from Juno's camera was enhanced by scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Dora.

    "A multitude of magnificent, swirling clouds in Jupiter's dynamic North North Temperate Belt is captured in this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Appearing in the scene are several bright-white “pop-up” clouds as well as an anticyclonic storm, known as a white oval," NASA explains in an online statement.

    NASA's Juno spacecraft was launched on Aug. 5, 2011, and arrived at Jupiter five years later — in July 2016. Juno's mission is slated to come to a close in July 2021 after the spacecraft slowly orbits Jupiter, collecting important data along the way.

    "Juno's principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation. As our primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars," NASA describes on its website.

    As the spacecraft explores the fifth planet from the Sun, it has taken some impressive pictures along the way.


    The astonishing images come courtesy of the Juno spacecraft during its 13th close flyby of Jupiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt /Seán Doran)

    One recent photo of Jupiter's northern hemisphere has been compared to Vincent van Gogh's iconic painting, "The Starry Night."

    "The region seen here is somewhat chaotic and turbulent, given the various swirling cloud formations," NASA said in a June 25 blog post. "In general, the darker cloud material is deeper in Jupiter’s atmosphere, while bright cloud material is high. The bright clouds are most likely ammonia or ammonia and water, mixed with a sprinkling of unknown chemical ingredients."

    Fox News' Chris Ciaccia contributed to this report.
    What do you see?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  6. #96
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    wait... wth?

    srsly....wtH?!?

    Picture of ‘giant dragon that caused Yibin earthquake’ lands Chinese man in detention
    Suspect says manipulated image of snake was intended as ‘a bit of fun’, but police in city where tremor killed 13 people last month weren’t laughing
    Man said on social media that a ‘120-metre-long giant dragon with a diameter of 1.5 meters jumped out of the water’
    Jane Zhang
    Published: 7:14pm, 5 Jul, 2019


    A man has been detained for suggesting a giant dragon might have caused last month’s earthquake in Sichuan. Photo: Shutterstock

    A man from southwest China has been detained for spreading rumours after he posted a badly manipulated image of a snake on social media and claimed it was a dragon that might have caused last month’s deadly earthquake in Sichuan province.
    Police in Yibin, where 13 people were killed by a magnitude 6 quake that struck on June 17, said the 50-year-old suspect, identified only as Zhang, was taken into custody on Wednesday in Chongqing, which neighbours Sichuan.
    His detention, the term of which was not specified, came after a task force was set up to investigate the rumour that had “drawn much attention and caused huge panic”, police said in a statement on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.
    Zhang uploaded the image, which appears to show a huge snake emerging from a hillside, as hundreds of people casually look on, to Weibo last week.


    Police set up a task force to track Zhang down after he posted this image on social media. Photo: Weibo

    The caption with the image read: “A 120-metre [390-foot] giant dragon with a diameter of 1.5 metres jumped out of the water this afternoon, attracting thousands of people.
    “Experts have flown here and it’s said the dragon had something to do with the earthquake.”
    Despite the poor quality of the digital manipulation, Zhang managed to upset at least one woman, who was convinced the serpent was real after being shown the doctored image by her granddaughter.
    “I told her it’s fake,” the younger woman said on Weibo. “But she got mad at me, saying that I was fooling her.”
    Police said Zhang had apologised for any upset caused and said he came up with the “dragon” idea after finding an already manipulated image of a snake online. It was “only meant to be a bit of fun”, he was quoted as saying.
    While the image might have fooled one elderly lady, few others were taken in.
    “I think the man misunderstands what a dragon should look like,” said a Weibo user.
    “This isn’t really a rumour. This is an IQ test,” said another.

    This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Arrest after rumours link ‘giant dragon’ to quake
    THREADS
    aye, here there be Dragons...
    I will never understand China
    Gene Ching
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  7. #97
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    #ThreeGorgesMonsterPhotos

    China gripped after sighting of its own 'Loch Ness Monster'
    By Kerry Allen
    BBC Monitoring
    17 September 2019


    PEAR VIDEO
    Grainy footage showed something that appeared to have a tail slithering back and forth in the water

    Something is lurking in the deep in China's famous Yangtze River - and social media discussion is rife over what it might be.

    On Friday, footage appeared on China's popular Sina Weibo microblog of what appeared to be a long, black creature, manoeuvring through the waters, and it has dominated online discussion ever since.

    Footage has quickly racked up millions of views, and theories are rife.

    Specialists have weighed in - but some think there may be a simple, and less murky, explanation.

    Excitement over footage

    A video filmed off the coast of the city of Yichang in western Hubei province, close to the Three Gorges Dam, captured the unusual scene.

    The video has racked up more than six million views and hundreds of thousands of likes after being shared by the popular Pear Video, and shows what looks like a giant eel or snake slithering along the surface of the water.

    Locals are filmed watching the creature from the shore - and social media users have similarly been captivated over theories about what the creature might be.

    Many have posted using the hashtag #ThreeGorgesMonsterPhotos, and specialists have begun to weigh in with their thoughts.

    In an interview with Pear Video, Professor Wang Chunfang from the Huazhong Agricultural University dismissed the idea of it being a new species, saying it was likely a simple "water snake".

    Some users said that "external factors such as pollution" could have a role to play in a sea snake growing to an extraordinary size. But not everyone was convinced.

    Separate footage has led some users to question whether the unidentified object is actually a living creature at all.


    THE PAPER
    Millions have watched footage of the item, but some think it might be a piece of simple rubbish

    Popular news website The Paper shared separate footage of something long and black moving in the water that appeared to be less animated.

    It asked if the whole thing was simply "a rumour" - and interviewed a biologist, Ding Li, who said that the object was neither a fish nor a snake, but simply "a floating object".

    A picture has since gone viral showing a long piece of black cloth washed up on some rocks, fuelling discussion this might have been the mysterious object.


    THE PAPER
    The appearance of some cloth washed up on some rocks has got users asking if they were mistaken

    Both have led to jokes about whether the local government was trying to attract tourism to the area, given the millions of dollars involved in building and maintaining the Three Gorges Dam.

    Others have made jokes about the quality of the footage, despite the rapid development in China of high quality smartphones.

    Some joked that the user obviously didn't have a Huawei phone. Another said: "Monsters always appear only when there are few pixels."

    So what does live in the Yangtze?


    AFP
    Giant Chinese salamanders live in the Yangtze river. They can grow to 1.8 metres in length

    The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia, and at 3,900 miles in length (6,300km), is the third longest in the world.

    But pollution has severely affected the river in recent years, meaning that its ecosystem has become narrower, rather than wider.

    The largest creature thought to exist in the waters at present is the Chinese giant salamander, which can reach some 1.8m in length.

    This species is critically endangered, largely as a result of pollution.


    ZHANG PENG/GETTY IMAGES
    The Three Gorges Dam is the world's latest hydroelectric dam

    China's other 'Nessies'

    China is no stranger to conspiracy theories about mythical creatures lurking in the deep.

    Since 1987, questions have been asked about whether a "Lake Monster" exists in the Kanas Lake in north-western Xinjiang, following numerous reports of sightings.

    However, specialists believe that this is a giant taimen, a species of salmon that can grow to 180cm long, the official China Daily said.

    More recently, in August 2017, footage went viral showing an unusual water creature seemingly raising its head in the waters of Luoping County in Southwest Yunnan province.

    Officials, however, dismissed the "monster" as either an alligator, or a piece of floating rubbish.
    grainy footage? oh come on. even PRC phones have HD cameras now...
    Gene Ching
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  8. #98
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    slightly ot...

    ...unless you know the myth of how carps can become dragons...

    SOMETHING FISHY Fish ‘with a human face’ creeps people out after being spotted in a lake in China
    Christy Cooney
    8 Nov 2019, 23:16 Updated: 9 Nov 2019, 2:37


    A CARP with markings on its face that make it look like a human has left social media users stunned.

    The fish was filmed in a lake by a visitor to a village outside the city of Kunming in the south of China.


    A carp with markings on its face that make it look like a human has been spotted in China


    The woman filming could be heard saying that the fish has 'turned into a fairy'

    Footage shows the animal poking its head just above the surface of the water at the lake's edge.

    On its face can be seen two black dots resembling eyes, two vertical stripes resembling the sides of a nose, and a horizontal line resembling a mouth.

    The woman filming can be heard saying: "The fish has turned into a fairy."

    Users of Weibo, China's version of twitter, have been left amazed by the clip.

    "This is scary," wrote one.

    "Who dates to eat it?" asked another.

    In 2016, another carp with a "human face" caused a stir after being captured in Wugang City in the Hunan province in central China.

    The fish was caught by primary school teacher Qiu Xiaohua, who said he had never seen anything like it in 20 years of fishing.

    He had been planning to eat the fish, but instead opted to keep it in his home.

    Chinese collectors in particular are known to pay big money for unique and rare animals and plants.

    In 2010, a carp with a "human face" captured by 44-year-old Essex butcher Brendan O'Sullivan was valued at £40,000.

    In 2009, two three-foot carp with human faces caused a storm after being discovered in the town of Chongju in South Korea.

    They were believed to be hybrid descendants of two carp species, the common carp and the leather carp.


    The fish was filmed in a lake outside the city of Kunming in the south of China
    Gene Ching
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  9. #99
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    Dinocephalosaurus orientalis

    Stunning 240 million-year-old 'Chinese dragon' fossil unveiled by scientists
    News
    By Ben Turner published 4 days ago
    A bizarre dragon-like creature that lived during the Triassic period used its remarkably long neck to hunt unsuspecting prey in shallow water, scientists have found.


    A cropped photo of the Dinocephalosaurus orientalis fossil. (Image credit: National Museums Scotland)
    Scientists have unveiled stunning fossils of an ancient seaborne "dragon" discovered in China.

    The 240 million-year-old animal — nicknamed the "Chinese dragon" — belongs to the species Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a reptile that used its remarkably long neck to ambush unsuspecting prey in shallow waters during the Triassic period (252 million to 201 million years ago).

    The species was first found in limestone deposits in southern China in 2003, but scientists have now pieced together remains to reconstruct the full 16.8-foot (5 meters) span of the spectacular ancient carnivore for the first time.

    The researchers revealed the new findings in a study published Feb. 23 in the journal Earth and Environmental Science: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

    "It is yet one more example of the weird and wonderful world of the Triassic that continues to baffle paleontologists," Nick Fraser, keeper of natural sciences at National Museums Scotland said in a statement. "We are certain that it will capture imaginations across the globe due to its striking appearance, reminiscent of the long and snake-like, mythical Chinese Dragon."


    A full-size photo of dinocephalosaurus orientalis. (Image credit: National Museums Scotland)

    The fossil reveals some of the ancient sea dragon's striking features.

    First and foremost is its neck, which stretches nearly 7.7 feet (2.3 meters) and contains 32 separate vertebrae — in comparison, giraffes (as well as humans) have only seven neck vertebrae.

    The snake-like shape of the dragon's articulable neck likely gave it a remarkable ability to sneak up on its prey, which it did after maneuvering into position with its flippered limbs. Some of the fish snared in the dragon's serrated teeth are still preserved inside the sea monster's belly.

    The researchers note that though the strange creature may be reminiscent of the Loch Ness Monster, it is not closely related to the long-necked plesiosaurs that inspired the famous mythical creature.

    "We hope that our future research will help us understand more about the evolution of this group of animals, and particularly how the elongate neck functioned," first-author Stephan Spiekman, a postdoctoral researcher based at the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History, said in the statement.


    Ben Turner
    Staff Writer
    Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.
    aye-here-there-be-Dragons
    2024-Year-of-the-Dragon
    Gene Ching
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