Archive page 129
Weird Things Podcast: The Kraken Awakes!
America’s First Vampire: The Real Deadliest Catch
So how does the story of the first vampire to set foot on American shores begin – like the most frightening episode of Deadliest Catch ever. An excerpt from a New York Time archive article circa 1892: Twenty-five years ago he was charged...
Ancient Monument and Golf Course
Newsweek has an interesting article about an ancient monument located in the middle of a golf course in Southern Ohio. Before you get upset about this suburbification of a historic site, it’s important to remember that if they hadn’t put a...
Wanna Buy A FeeJee Mermaid?
You know what would brighten up your life? Your own PT Barnum style FeeJee Mermaid! This lovely lass is on sale via eBay with the bidding beginning at the low price of $399.99. After all, we are into the holiday season… Thanks to Weird...
Human Powered Hovercraft – Built by Teenagers
As a rule, child endangerment in the name of science is only fun when it’s the children doing the actual endangerment. In this video three high school students (Max Shepherd, Robert Draper and Brit Garner) build and test their own homemade...
Mechanical Elephants
Need to get your mechanical elephant off your hands? Contact us at Weird Things. Thanks to Make Magazine for spotting the original YouTube clip.
Archeologists Explore 5,000 Year-Old Submerged City
50 meters off the coast of Laconia in Greece archeologists are mapping the oldest submerged city in the world. From ScienceDaily: Possibly one of the most important discoveries has been the identification of what could be a megaron — a...
Weirdest Torture Device In The World LIVE CHAT
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When Yeti’s were Abominable
Over time fads and tastes change. You’d think that at least Yeti’s could remain immune to this kind of cultural pressure. Sadly no. His appearance and behavior has changed over the years. From the December 27th, 1937 Milwaukee Journal, we...
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...