Moving Rocks at Racetrack Playa, Death Valley

©iStockphoto.com/Stephan Hoerold

The mysterious "moving rocks" or "sailing stones" of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California are a popular topic for blogs, online communities, and various other websites. Photographs of the moving rocks also circulate via email along with numerous explanations for the phenomenon.

The rocks have generated a great deal of debate. Some commentators claim that photographs of the rocks and their tracks are digital fakes. Some observers put forward super-natural or other-worldly explanations. And others suggest that the moving rocks are part of an elaborate hoax with prankster-power being the real rock mover rather than any natural or supernatural influence.

However, the phenomenon is certainly real and has been well documented over many years. And the circulating photographs of the moving stones are perfectly genuine.

©iStockphoto.com/george jurasek

To date, no one has been present when the rocks have actually moved. However, scientists have studied the sailing stones for decades and clear and compelling evidence indicates that the rocks do indeed move without human or animal interference.

Examination of the tracks left by the moving rocks shows that they are created when the playa's surface is covered with soft mud. Thus it seems highly improbable that human pranksters or animals could shift the rocks without leaving clear signs of their interference along with the rock "trails". Cases of moving rocks have been recorded many times since the 1940's and the phenomenon occurs in other playas in the region as well as the Racetrack, so the "hoax" theory also seems highly improbable.

That said, scientists still are not certain exactly how the rocks move. The general consensus is that wind is the primary factor. This theory is supported by the fact that most of the rock tracks run in the same general direction as the prevailing winds that blow across the playa.

One popular theory is that during wet conditions, strong wind gusts on the playa get the rocks sliding across the soft slippery mud. Experts speculate that, once a rock starts sliding, even more gentle winds may then be enough to keep the rocks moving for considerable distances. An alternative theory is that the rocks become embedded in a thin layer of ice and are subsequently dragged along as the wind propels the enclosing ice sheet across the playa surface.



The ice theory is discussed more thoroughly in the following video:

Famous Violinist Joshua Bell Plays At Metro Station

Summary:
Email forward claims that virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell performed incognito at a metro station in Washington DC playing on a violin worth millions of dollars but his performance received very little interest from passersby (Full commentary below).



Status:
True

Example:(Submitted, January 2008)

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist.

Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the top musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written,with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station

was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Cards and Pennies for Alyssa Bruno

Summary:
Email forward requests recipients to send a birthday card with a penny enclosed to Alyssa Bruno, a child who is seriously ill with a brain stem tumor.

Status:
Was True but is now outdated

Example:(Submitted, July 2006)

Subject: Birthday cards for Alyssa Bruno

Hi Friends, Family, Colleagues and Random People who got on my email list!

As many of you are aware, this past school year one of my kindergartners, Alyssa Bruno, was diagnosed with diffuse pontine glioma (stem cell brain tumor). She had a successful year of kindergarten, but took a dramatic turn for the worse at the end of the school year. As of now she has lost all movement in her left side and can't walk or talk. She has been on five different chemotherapy treatments and continues to be a little trooper! Everyone is praying that this upcoming week's dose of chemo will show some signs of improvement.

On August 2nd Alyssa will be celebrating her 6th birthday. I've been thinking for a long time about what to get for her, but she is very limited with what she can do right now. One thing Alyssa LOVES is to get mail. So I thought I'd email everyone on my list and ask for you all to please consider sending Alyssa a birthday card with a penny enclosed for good luck!. I am going to have Alyssa collect them in a jar as a reminder of all the people who are out there praying for her. How neat would that be for Alyssa to receive cards from all over the country and perhaps the world! I'd love it if you all could also forward this message to everyone on your list. (I'm not a fan of chain letters, but this would really make Alyssa's day and brighten her spirits!)

I know how busy everyone is these days, but sending a card to this little girl would give her a little something to look forward to each day when she gets the mail.

I've attached a few pictures so that you can put a face with the name! She's a cutie! Please, forward this along to anyone who you think might send a card.

Thank you so much,
Marcy Mooney - Alyssa's teacher

Address to send cards (removed):

Thank you so much,
Marcy Mooney

PLEASE NOTE
Alyssa Bruno passed away from her illness on 24th August 2006

How Forwarding Emails can Increase Spam

How Forwarding Emails can Increase Spam

A hidden, but non-trivial side effect of forwarding emails is that your email address is likely to be forwarded along with it and will probably end up in a large number of email in-boxes in diverse regions of the planet. Once the forwarded email begins its journey from your computer, to the Rest Of The World, you have absolutely no control over how many times the email gets forwarded and, of course, how many times your private email address gets forwarded right along with it. Your email address is likely to end up, not only in the private in-boxes of complete strangers, but also on mailing lists, news groups, online forums and the hard copy someone printed off to show Great Uncle Vinny. Sooner or later, it is possible, even probable, that your email address will cross the in-box of your friendly neighbourhood spammer. Spammers must love emails that have been forwarded a number of times. For them, the dozens of valid addresses that such emails have collected upon their journey through cyberspace must seem an enticing bonus. This is certainly not the only way that spammers get hold of email addresses, but I do believe that it is a significant factor.



So, what can you do to minimize the risk of being added to a spammers list via this method?

Well, as a courtesy, you can make sure to remove any existing email addresses from the headers before forwarding the email. However, this will not stop your email address from escaping into the wilds of cyberspace.

You could include a polite note at the top of the email asking that recipients "Help Stop Spam: Please remove email addresses before forwarding". This could be effective, as it would perhaps help to remind and educate people about the issue. Especially if your little reminder stayed intact and legible for subsequent forwardings. On the other hand, you couldn't be sure that people would actually carry out this request.



The method I favor takes a little more time than simply clicking the "Forward" button but is probably the most effective. If I'm sending on an email that I suspect will "keep on keeping on", I copy the body of the email, paste it to a new email and send it using a throw-away "secondary" account. If I'm sending it to multiple recipients, I use the Blind Carbon Copy facility of my email client to further protect their privacy.

The links below lead to other articles and tutorials about protecting the privacy of your email recipients:

Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) in Outlook Express
Email Security Tip - Forward Responsibly
How to Remove Previous Email Addresses in Email Forwards
A More Elegant Approach to Blind Carbon Copying

Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) in Outlook Express

Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) in Outlook Express

If you send emails to multiple recipients, it is important to use the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) facility of your email program. Using BCC protects the privacy of your recipients and helps reduce spam. When you send an email to several people using the normal "To:" or "Cc;" fields, all of their email addresses are clearly displayed in the message. If the email is forwarded, the email addresses of all previous recipients may also be forwarded, as illustrated in the screenshot below.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Free Traffic