Archive page 129
Were the Wild Things Were
The story of a faraway island still inhabited by legendary creatures has been a captivating idea since before Homer wrote down the Odyssey. Recent incarnations include the works of Jules Verne and stories like King Kong, Jurassic Park and...
Flying Saucer Inventor Still Missing
Have you seen Jonathan E. Caldwell? He’s still missing after 60 years. The Air Force has some questions they’d like to ask him about the flying saucers in his barn. Was his disappearance part of a sinister conspiracy? Or a way for him to...
We’re Looking For The Weirdest Torture Device In The World
Today’s Weird Things chat is designed to punish, persuade and persecute. Tighten the straps and ratchet it up to 11, we’re looking for the Weirdest Torture Device In The World. Here are the ground rules: • Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...
A Very Unsatisfactory Ghost Story
From Psychology Today we get this less than riveting ghost story from sleep specialist Dennis Rosen, M.D. who determines that part of his patient’s sleeping disorder may be attributed to a ghost in the house. It starts off pretty good: “Do...
The Lost Civilization of Mirador
Embedded video from CNN VideoIn this video, CNN investigate Mirador, the cradle of the Mayan civilization and home to the largest pyramid (by volume) in the world. Mostly covered by jungle, it’s in the middle of a threatened region rampant...
The Terrible Adventure of an Aeronaut
Does this sound kind of familiar? From the Detroit Tribune in 1858: We have learned the full particulars of the balloon ascension…on Thursday, its subsequent descent, and its second ascension and runaway with the aeronaut while beyond his...
Total Recall A Fact! (For Flies)
Listen up Philip K. Dick fans, Total Recall (We Can Remember it For You Wholesale) is now a reality – at least for flies. According to ScienceDaily: By directly manipulating the activity of individual neurons, scientists have given flies...
Advancements in Suspended Animation
A staple of science fiction is the suspended animation chamber. It’s how we send astronauts to faraway places, punish criminals (we’re not quite clear on how sending bad guys into the future where they can expect longer, healthier lives...
Charles Babbage Confronts the Devil, Becomes a Ghost Hunter
We know Charles Babbage as the inventor of the Difference Engine, the pre-cursor to the modern computer, but what about Charles Babbage, investigator for the occult and supernatural? As a young man he decided to find out if Satan was real...
Five Best Songs About Zombies, Ever
Someday, all the deceased extras that played ooky revenants in “Night of the Living Dead” will ungrave for real and you’ll be subjected to blog post after blog post comparing pictures of the actors’ actual shambling undead remains to...
The Paradox of Fight Club
It was ten years ago today that Fight Club was released. Both the film and the book by Chuck Palahniuk explored a variety of themes. Besides the intricacies of soap making, starting your own cult and the downside of consumer culture, at...
PopSci: No, You Can’t Fly Straight Through Jupiter
Killjoy Sally Younger at Popular Science says: Despite its gusty reputation as a “gas giant,” Jupiter’s blood-red clouds hide a dense, rocky core that’s perhaps 20 times as massive as Earth. That core blocks any spacecraft’s passage...
Is this the World’s Largest Haunted Place?
What’s cooler than a giant cave? A giant haunted cave. Mammoth cave, one of the largest cave systems in the world is filled with all kinds of lore. Some say it’s the largest haunted place in the world. Prairie Ghosts has collected several...
Live blogging a Sea Serpent Investigation in 1855!
Sea Monsters are awesome. What’s even more awesome than that? Live blogging your investigation of said sea monster in 1855! How is that even possible? In 1855 the New York Times was on the cutting edge of tech journalism utilizing...
Why are Six of the 10 Oldest People on the Planet Americans?
With the current debate over nationalized health care a lot of facts and figures are flying fast and loose. It seems like for every point of view there’s a data set to support it. In the discussion of what the ideal system should be two...
Parachuting from Space
Ever wonder what it looks like to see a spacecraft land in the middle of a field? Wonder no more. NASA has posted a great Flickr set of photos showing the return to earth of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and Commander Gennady...
USGS: Giant Snakes are Invading the U.S.!
Apparently it’s snake week here at Weird Things, previously we reported on researchers discovering the stomping grounds of the largest snake ever, Titanboa. Now comes some fun news from the U.S. Geological Survey: We’re being invaded by...
‘I Met a Zombie’
There’s no shortage of explanations for the demise of the newspaper industry. Could one more be the complete lack of face to face confrontation with paranormal creatures like zombies? We at Weird Things lament the days when a brassy gal...
Have German Scientists Found the “X” Gene?
German researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have discovered a gene mutation in certain individuals that seems to give them enhanced mental abilities. …people graced with this genotype showed more activity in the...
Scientists Discover the Lair of the World’s Largest Snake (extinct)
Science Daily reports that a Smithsonian research team has uncovered the first megafossils of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world’s biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in...