If you are a scientist or researcher looking to raise your public profile, this may be right up your alley: Go Go Luckey Entertainment & BermanBraun Television Productions are looking to cast two lead investigators for a documentary series that will look into 2012 predictions. They want to set up a Mulder and Scully sort of team (though with an Indiana Jones type twist) that meets the following requirements:

Male & Female Investigators between the ages of 30 and 45, who are scientists, explorers, or adventurers with advanced degrees (Ph.D desired).

Ideal Investigators would already be a team (husband and wife, co- workers) who fall somewhere between the FBI Agents on “The X Files” and “Indiana Jones”. One is a believer, the other a skeptic. One is driven by reason, science and empirical evidence, the other by feelings, intuitions and faith.

Ideally, the woman would be the skeptic and the man the believer. We are not limiting ourselves to an existing team nor will we rule out a woman who is the believer and a man who is the skeptic. We are open to any combination as long as they are articulate, passionate, and knowledgeable.

Investigators must also be genuinely curious as to why there are predictions in nearly every culture that the world will end in 2012.

Each episode is supposed to center around investigations into End of Days profecies and other unsolved mysteries from around the world.

If you meet their qualifications, this seems like an interesting opportunity, or if you don’t qualify (like me) this looks like a show that will definitely be worth watching when it airs.

Seekers 2012 Casting

According to National Geographic a controversial new theory suggests that as many of a third of currently recognized dinosaur species may never have existed at all. At least not as a true species. According to analysis by paleontologists from UC Berkley and Montana State University, many currently recognized species may in fact be misidentified juveniles of other known species. The paleontologists theorize that, like birds, the dinosaurs underwent drastic physical changes during adulthood. While other paleontologists acknowledge that some species may have been misidentified juveniles, just how many have been mistaken is the source of much controversy. Unfortunately, the amount of fossil material currently available to researchers is insufficient to adequately test this new theory.

A Third of Dinosaur Species Never Existed? [via IQXS]

The odds of being hit by a meteorite are, quite frankly and for lack of a non pun inducing term, astronomical. In fact there is only one known case in all of recorded history of a person actually being hit by a meteorite. This makes what is happening to one Bosnian gentleman so incredible, that it defies all reason and logic. Radivoje Lajic’s house in the village of Gornja Lamovite has been hit by meteorites no less than 5 times since last November. All of the rocks brought by Mr. Lajic to Belgrade University have been verified by experts as being meteorites. Adding to the strangeness of this already bizarre tale, the meteorites seem to only fall during heavy rains. Scientist from the university are investigating the area looking for any magnetic anomalies that could possibly attract the space rocks to the house. Mr. Lajic has a less Earthly explanation for the strikes, claiming that he is being attacked by extraterrestrials.

“I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don’t know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense. The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times has to be deliberate.” Lajic told reporters. He has since had his roof heavily reenforced.

There is obviously something going on in this Bosnian village, though I don’t know if anyone is on the right track looking for a cause. I would imagine that a magnetic field strong enough to repeatedly guide meteorites in to a specific location would have other tell-tale signs of its existence (watches malfunctioning, compasses not pointing true, etc) that are not being reported in this case (but I am not a scientist, so I may very well be wrong). However, I don’t think there is any real evidence to point to extraterrestrial involvement. The incredible statistical improbability of the strikes does not reliably point to anything other than some outside force influencing the meteorite’s travel. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of what that force may be, only that it exists. Hopefully further study can reveal its identity. For now all we can do is wildly speculate.

Man ‘targeted by aliens’ [via BoingBoing]