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John Zebrowski of the Seattle Times reports on Mel?s Hole, which is said to be a bottomless pit. The hole supposedly exists outside of Ellensburg, Washington on land once owned by Mel Waters, who says it was used for years as the neighborhood dump for trash, old appliances and even dead cattle. Dogs and birds avoided it. When the hole never filled up, Waters measured its depth by lowering weighted fishing line into it. After 80,000 feet, he gave up.

The hole is now lost. Waters says he sold the property and won’t say where the hole is. Few people know who Waters really is. Investigators believe the hole is about 10 miles west of town on a place called Manastash Ridge.
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Whitley Strieber has experienced a serious family tragedy. He writes here about the struggle to cope, and the painful moral and emotional questions involved. To read the entry, click here.

NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.read more

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Heavier people are more likely to be killed or seriously injured in car accidents than lighter people, according to a study carried out in Seattle. That could mean car designers will have to build in new safety features to compensate for the extra hazards facing overweight passengers.

Car manufacturers have already redesigned air bags so they inflate to lower pressures, making them less of a danger to smaller women and children. But no one yet knows what is putting overweight passengers at extra risk.
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Genes linked to depression differ between men and women, according research by George Zubenko of the University of Pittsburgh. His work suggests that there are important differences in the molecular basis of clinical depression in men and women that determine their resistance to stressful events.

?We hope that the tools of reverse genetics will eventually lead to the identification of products of these genes and how they contribute to depression and mood regulation more generally in humans,? Zubenko says.
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