On:

I’ve lived through some exciting times in the past few years that I’ve shared with you: What it’s like to go to the premiere of a major motion picture and the premiere of a small one, and what it’s like to sit backstage while your husband is on a late night network talk show. Now I’m going to tell you what it’s like to be in the audience while your husband films a pilot for a possible TV series.

A “pilot” is a potential episode of a television series, in this case what is called a “non-fiction” TV show. The network involved had not committed to actually running the series, but they HAD committed the money to filming a pilot, which they would then use to make their final decision. Since the topic of this episode was UFOs, they called on Whitley.
read more

On:

This is the time of year when people make predictions for the New Year. Scientists make predictions too, and meteorologists say that 2007 will be the hottest year ever recorded, all over the world.

There’s a 60% chance that 2007 will break the record set in1998, when the weather worldwide was 1.20 degrees warmer than normal. Britain’s Meteorological Office says, “This new information represents another warning that climate change is happening around the world.”
read more

On:

If you have too much corn, you try to find a way to use it for fuel. If you have lots of cows, you do the same thing.

Cow manure, waste silage, cheese whey are waste products to some, but viable energy sources to researchers in New York State who are helping area dairy farmers meet their own energy needs by turning these waste products into “biogas” (and this is NOT the kind of gas expelled by cows).
read more

On:

First the Japanese invented a cloak that makes the wearer invisible. Now someone has invented underwear that never needs to be washed (good for the military) and a shirt you can spray onto your skin from a can (perfect for travel!)

The underwear contains chemicals that repel water, oil and bacteria and is made of material that cost the US military $20 million to develop. Fabrican is a spray-on fabric in a can that was invented by researcher Manel Torres.

Innovation is nothing new: there was plenty of it in the past as well. Stay with us on unknowncountry.com as we explore what was and and what is yet to be.

To learn more, click here and here.
read more