I often wondered that with my mother’s cat, who jumped onto the couch to peer out the window, moments before I heard my mom’s car pull up to the house. My father told me about a family dog that followed them halfway across the country to be with them on their vacation. I can easily explain away the cat’s behavior–exceptional hearing or an awareness of time. But the dog? How would she know where to find my father’s family, especially at such a great distance?

Rupert Sheldrake has written a book about such cases, entitled Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home. Sheldrake believes that domestic animals can communicate telepathically with people and other animals with whom they have emotional bonds. That’s putting it simply, without the science speak. He isn’t alone in his curiosity about this phenomenon.

Alex Tsakiris of OpenSourceScience is hosting a contest to see whether dogs have psychic ability. The prize for the dog who can demonstrate psychic talent is $1,000. Find out more about this contest by visiting Dogs That Know.

I remember catching sight of The Two Dead Girls book in the grocery store. I bought the book, took it home and began to enjoy what would be my first experience reading serial novels. Paul Edgecomb runs the death row section of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary in the middle of the Depression. We are first drawn into Edgecomb’s life before the giant John Coffey walks onto The Mile.

Edgecomb is dealing with a particularly nasty bladder infection. His colleague’s friend is dying of a brain tumor. And if that wasn’t enough, he has to deal with a power-hungry prison guard who likes to blackmail him with his “connections” with the governor. This guard escorts John Coffey into the Death Row cell block, yelling, “Dead man walking! This is a dead man walking!”

Coffey shuffles into his cell, looking scared and bewildered. He cries a lot. The guards, with the exception of Percy the power-hungry, feel sorry for him. Then, one day, Coffey calls Edgecomb up to his cell. With great reluctance, Edgecomb complies. Coffey grabs the guard by the groin and proceeds to rid him of his bladder infection.

Mystified, Edgecomb sets out to find out exactly how Coffey wound up on Death Row. He learns that the case isn’t as cut and dried as everyone thinks. He also learns that Coffey’s gift can do great things (like bringing a dead mouse back to life), but with a price.

Frank Darabont did an excellent job of recreating the story almost precisely as it is written, and the cast couldn’t have been any better than it was. This isn’t a normal Hollywood movie, but a leisurely 3-hour story and a very good one. I didn’t know about the alternate ending when The Green Mile was reproduced as a full-length novel. After watching this movie, I found that I wanted more. So, I may just go out and buy that novel. I highly recommend the movie. Just make sure you can set aside a full three hours to watch it.

The Alamo is considered to be one of the most haunted sites in the nation. Considering the heavy loss of life that occurred there, it’s no wonder that some refuse to leave. I had the pleasure of visiting this place back in 1982. During that time, I accidentally got separated from my family.

Instead of staying where I was so they could eventually find me, I wandered around the grounds, looking at the paintings and the artifacts. If I had encountered a ghost, I never realized it. I just kept walking until I met up with my family.

In sharp contrast to my experience, others have encountered the ghosts of The Alamo. One of the most notorious is that of a girl, dressed in white, who is seen looking out what appears to be a second story window. When the visitors walk inside the building, they realize that there is no second floor and the window is twenty feet above the floor.

Researchers from The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are heading to Guyana in search of the didi, the South American version of Bigfoot. The CFZ believes the didi is a surviving species of ground sloth that was extinct for more than 10,000 years. Metro reporter Oliver Stallwood will follow the team when they set off for their expedition in November.

Most likely, they will find a nest of giant anacondas.