Nexus - 0504 - New Times Magazine-pages

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... GLOBAL NEWS ... NEWS LLOYD'S INSURERS PREPARE FOR "THE BIG ONE’ loyd's, the international insurance giant, has set up a ‘millennium’ study group to examine the possible effects of the planetary alignment due to occur in May 2000. The conjunction of planets, which includes Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn plus the Sun and the Moon, is predicted to generate a collective gravitational 'pull' that could instigate earthquakes, tidal waves and volcanic eruptions. The study group, formed by D. P. Mann, one of the biggest non-maritime syndicates at Lloyd's, has asked Dr Julian Salt, an insurance expert specialising in risks posed by natural perils, to examine the possible threat for a seminar for Lloyd's directors and underwriters. (Sources: The Sunday Times, UK, 3 May 1998; The Australian, 4 May 1998) upwards. Electric cables ran along the ceiling, indicating that lighting or machin- ery was being used. Though filming is forbidden, the team used a hidden video camera to record their find. Sources have since told them that work- ers found the tunnel using sonar equip- ment, and then discovered the three new chambers. "It is no coincidence the Pyramid has closed down now," said Mr Cox. "It gives them an opportunity to explore these new areas without anyone knowing." Work on the Great Pyramid is kept low- profile to avoid experts descending from around the world and treasure hunters try- ing to steal artefacts. (Source: Daily Mail, UK, 18 April 1998) In late March, a CBS prime-time televi- sion special (hosted by Dan Rather) fea- tured a story on El Nifio. Presenting his most recent findings was scientist Daniel Walker, a marine seismologist at the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology and at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawaii. After researching the El Nifio phenome- non for some time, he concludes that the real generating force behind El Niiio is underwater vulcanism. (Source: Earth Changes Report, May 1998) EXTRA CASH FOR FARMERS WHO GO ORGANIC! ritain's agricultural, environmental and water experts are so concerned at the impact of chemical sprays and fertilisers that they are coming up with schemes to offer cash and other incentives to farmers who convert to organic farming practices. One water company, Wessex Water, has offered to pay farmers £16 an acre to switch to organic farming, in what is believed to be the first incentive of its kind from the water industry. The company will be spending £400,000 over the next two years in an attempt to stem the increasing levels of nitrates which have been leaking into the water from neigh- bouring farmland. On top of this, Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham has announced an extra UNDERWATER VOLCANOES THE REAL CAUSE OF EL NINO? Me and more scientists are examin- ing the possibility that the changing weather patterns are more likely the result of the changing ocean temperatures. But what is causing the change in ocean temperatures? The "greenhouse effect" is what most people will say—but it does not explain why some parts of some oceans are heating up enormously, and some aren't. Now, at last, science is starting to con- firm that underwater vulcanism is one of the biggest culprits in causing weather pat- tern change. SECRET EXCAVATIONS AT THE GREAT PYRAMID B ritish researchers claim the "discovery of the century" has been made at the Great Pyramid of Giza. The team believes the Egyptian authorities are carrying out secret excavations in a tunnel which may lead to three previously unknown cham- bers. They secretly videotaped inside the Pyramid the day before the authorities closed it for an eight-month "renovation project", and consider the Egyptians’ action is simply a cover for the excavation. "It is the discovery of the century,” said Simon Cox, one of the researchers. "This find could solve the greatest mystery of all time. The scale of it is just amazing. We have been told by three independent sources that the tunnel leads to three new chambers. Who knows what is inside them. It could be treasure troves full of gold coins or just empty rooms." Cox, who studied Egyptology at the University College, London, found evi- dence of the tunnel on | April during one of his regular monthly visits to the pyra- mids. With researchers Clive Prince and Lynn Picknett, he came across a metal grille in a wall inside the antechamber leading to the King's Chamber. "I'd never seen it before," explained Mr Cox. "The grille was rusty, but the mortar holding it to the wall was new." Shining their torches inside the 3.6 ft by 2.5 ft gap, they saw a tunnel high enough to stand up in, with two stairs leading JUNE - JULY 1998 NEXUS 7