Thursday, April 29, 2010
What It's Like To Stand Inside an Imploding Stadium
Very cool. Be sure to look up.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:48 PM
At last, it's monkey riding a goat walking on a tightrope
You know you want to see it.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:38 AM
Big Jake, the world's tallest horse
He's officially the Guinness World Record holder for world's tallest living horse - but his owner says that Big Jake is really just a gentle giant.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:37 AM
For Traveller Women In Ireland, Life Is Changing
Travellers, "the people of walking," are often referred to as the Gypsies of Ireland. Mistrusted for the most part, their traditions and lifestyle are not well understood within the larger culture.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:33 AM
Analysis of 40-year-old tape may reveal whether Ohio Guardsmen were ordered to fire on Kent State protesters
A 40-year-old audio recording of the moments just before Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on antiwar protesters at Kent State University will finally be professionally analyzed to try to determine if -- as some claim -- an order to shoot is audible.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:59 AM
Man finds goat head in Beardsley Park
Bridgeport police have another case of animal remains on their hands. The question: Are these cases linked to a religious ceremony?
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:54 AM
Dolphin boy! Meet the incredible 4-year-old who has learnt to navigate using 'sonar' clicks
Young Jamie Aspland utters tiny high-pitch clicks to rebound the sound off surfaces - and guide him round obstacles.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:46 AM
Too risky to phone ET? Too late — NASA's tried it
The U.S. space agency, which two years ago broadcast the Beatles song "Across the Universe" into the cosmos, on Wednesday discussed its latest search strategy for life beyond Earth.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:44 AM
Oldest unsolved murder in Scotland
The brutal murder of a Perthshire woman nearly 150 years ago is Scotland’s oldest unsolved killing, records released under Freedom of Information legislation have shown.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:40 AM
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Man claims to have had no food or drink for 70 years
Indian military scientists are studying an 82-year-old who claims he has not had any food or drink for 70 years.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:01 PM
Air Force's Falcon Hypersonic Glider Disappears Mysteriously
The Air Force's Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2—designed to attack global targets at Mach 20—has disappeared nine minutes into its first test flight, just after separating from its booster.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:32 AM
Jazz Age Scientists Imagined Life on Mars on the Cover of the New York Times
Stephen Hawking is just the latest immensely respected scientist to posit life on other worlds: Back in 1912, Edmond Perrier, director of Paris' Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, did the same thing in the New York Times Magazine.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:04 AM
Magnetic refuge found on moon
The magnetic region could be a great place to site a lunar base, since tomorrow's lunar colonists will not only need water (check!), but some protection from the heavy radiation in the solar wind.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:53 AM
Will rediscovered Tombstone document solve mystery of Wyatt Earp?
Of all the giants of Western lore - including men like Jesse James and Geronimo and women like Calamity Jane - no one has been as controversial as Wyatt Earp, the legendary lawman who spent much of his life in San Bernardino County.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:55 AM
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Gorillaz + Alan Moore + 16th-century alchemist John Dee = the most geekgasm-inducing opera ever
Following up on hints dropped last November, Gorillaz duo Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have finally shared a few details with Vulture on their upcoming opera with Alan Moore, which is shaping up to be one of the most geek-tastic projects of all time.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:02 PM
Car, body found in lake 30 years later
From what Steve Toth can piece together, the car tumbled nearly 300 feet from the top of a bluff, bounced off a rail bed below, and landed on its roof in Skaha Lake in British Columbia before sinking to the bottom.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:58 PM
Underwater asphalt volcanoes discovered in the Pacific Ocean
An international team of scientists has discovered underwater asphalt volcanoes that were hidden in the depths of the Pacific Ocean for 40,000 years.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:57 PM
Facebook user replies to message in a bottle - 30 years after it was sent
Oliver Vandevalle, who sent a message in a bottle over 30 years ago, has finally received a reply after a Facebook user tracked down the Belgian on the popular social networking site.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:16 PM
Scottish police once believed in Loch Ness monster
Newly released documents on display Tuesday in Scotland show that during the 1930s, police in Scotland were convinced some sort of creature inhabited the Highlands lake -- so sure, in fact, that they worried about how to protect it from big-game hunters. See also:
Even police believed Loch Ness monster existed in the 1930s
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:59 PM
Linguist races to save a dying language spoken in Cambodia
With no more than 10 speakers remaining of S'aoch, a language spoken on Cambodia's sea shore, French linguist Jean-Michel Filippi is in a race against time to preserve a disappearing culture.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:54 PM
Noah's Ark found? Not so fast
Web sites are buzzing over claims that remains from Noah’s Ark may have been found on Turkey’s Mount Ararat. The finders, led by an evangelical group, say they are "99.9 percent" that a wooden structure found on the mountainside was part of a ship that housed the Biblical Noah, his family and a menagerie of creatures during a giant flood 4,800 years ago.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:44 PM
Monday, April 26, 2010
Teen Wakes from Coma Speaking Fluent German
A Croatian teenager awoke from a coma last week to find she could no longer speak in her native Croatian -- but was fluent in German, a language she had just started studying in school, the U.K. press reports.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:05 PM
UFO caught on film
A Highton man has filmed mystery balls of light zig-zagging across Corio Bay as other residents across the city reported similar sightings, prompting speculation of UFOs. With video.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:45 AM
Why Do People Leave The Bigfoot Field?
Cryptomundo wonders.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:22 AM
Ancient jars, full of mystery
A visit to the Plain of Jars, one of Southeast Asia’s most mysterious archeological sites.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:47 AM
Supervolcanic Extinctions
'Supervolcano' eruptions in Earth's past have played a role in shaping the evolution of life by causing mass extinctions. Scientists are now trying to understand what triggered these enormous eruptions and how likely they are to occur again in the future.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:44 AM
The Chinese laboratories where scientists are already at work on the new 'meow meow'
In a filthy Shanghai laboratory, chemists make batches of mephedrone - and a new incarnation of the 'plant food' linked to the deaths of British teenagers. Never heard of the drugs Eric-1 and Eric-2? That's the point.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:44 AM
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Photography's Longest Exposure
Six months. That's right. This dream-like picture shows each phase of the sun over Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge taken during half a year.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:44 PM
Ron Rietveld's Magnificent Lincoln Find
More than 50 years ago a 14-year-old boy found a photograph of President Abraham Lincoln in his coffin taken on April 24, 1865, in New York City. The discovery startled historians, because Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War, had ordered this photograph to be destroyed.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:53 AM
Friday, April 23, 2010
Neanderthals and humans interbred twice, find scientists
It won't come as a surprise to anyone wandering around Britain's city centres late on a Friday night. But scientists have discovered that most people have a little bit of Neanderthal man in them.
posted by Prof. Hex at 3:13 PM
'Fireball' seen over sea at Branscombe
"It appeared to hover for a short while and then sped off down the Channel at high speed."
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:57 PM
U.S. military launches mystery space plane on secret mission
Mystery surrounds the U.S. military's Orbital Test Vehicle, the X-37B OTV, which launched into space Thursday night from the Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. Thanks Joe!
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:54 PM
Writers who borrowed from Shakespeare
Many writers throughout the world have been greatly influenced by the works of Shakespeare, and as a result, they have quoted him, particularly in the titles they have chosen.
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:41 PM
Chappaquiddick was no mystery
Now the FBI has announced it will release some 3,000 pages of its secret files on the public and private life of Kennedy, who died last August, but not until the late senator's family has had an opportunity to peruse them and lodge objections to certain portions.
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:31 PM
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Ariz. Court Discovers Original OK Corral Papers
A missing handwritten transcript from a coroner's inquest done after the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral has resurfaced in a dusty box more than 125 years after the most famous shootout in Wild West history. Via
Fark.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:43 PM
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Strange images captured on film
At Mike Conley's Tales of the Weird.
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:21 PM
Crop circles remain unexplained
Crop circles have been around for approximately 340 years. Probably the most well-known case was the “Mowing Devil” (1678) in Hertfordshire, England, in which a farmer’s field was said to have been visited by an entity that trampled his crops down in a circle.
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:17 PM
Fayetteville residents rattled by mysterious, loud boom
A scene right out of a Stephen King novel or the latest sci-fi movie came to Fayetteville Saturday night, but no one is quite sure what happened. Another "Fayette" for the
Name Game.
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:14 PM
Witness: Dozens of dead birds fall from Texas sky
Wildlife experts will try to determine what caused dozens of birds to literally drop from the sky onto the Highway 66 bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard. With video.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:18 PM
Vanished: 'Chupacabra' walks away from Fiesta booth
On display was a mummified chupacabra. Stevens charges $1.00 for the public to get a closeup look at what he claims is the only known chupacabra in the U.S.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:14 PM
Boobquake determined to prove cleric wrong
A one-woman mission to prove breasts don't cause earthquakes has swollen into a shirt-straining global movement preparing for the inaugural "Boobquake". I can't tell you how much I support this idea.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:07 PM
Biological treasures from Borneo
Scientists are showing off some of the 123 new species they've found in the remote forests of Borneo, three years after the three nations that own pieces of the island agreed to safeguard 85,000 square miles (220,000 square kilometers) in the "Heart of Borneo."
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:45 PM
The Five Weirdest Cryptological Mysteries
What’s the best way to make sure you’re remembered decades after your death? Write something weird and mysterious. Not just mysterious, mysterious and in a secret code.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:02 AM
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
My search for the real Robin Hood
Ridley Scott claims his new film starring Russell Crowe will be the most historically accurate ever. But what do we actually know about the real outlaw and his merrie men?
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:52 AM
Psychiatrist's Research Finds You Really Can Feel a Person's Stare
Noted psychiatrist and author Colin A. Ross, M.D., has published experimental data that supports his scientific hypothesis that the eyes emit energy that can be captured and measured. Thanks, Scott!
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:55 AM
Near-Death Experiences Linked to Oxygen Deprivation
People who report near-death experiences have elevated levels of carbon dioxide in their blood and may be suffering oxygen deprivations, according to a new study published in the medical journal Critical Care.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:07 AM
Dartmoor stones are older than Stonehenge
Archaeologists have uncovered ancient stones thought to be the remains of a prehistoric monument which is 1,000 years older than Stonehenge, it has emerged.
posted by Prof. Hex at 6:45 AM
Receding Horizons
The world's always thronged with monsters and marvels, but have we been looking for them in the wrong places?
posted by Prof. Hex at 6:32 AM
Family complain to Bristol hospital as rings go missing from amputated arm
Sad.
posted by Prof. Hex at 6:08 AM
How Nature's Deep Sea 'Antenna' Puzzled the World
In 1964, while trolling the depths to photograph the ocean floor, the crew of the oceanographic research ship USNS Eltanin made a startling discovery in the waters near Antarctica. Amid the countless prints of vast terrain 13,500 feet beneath the waves, one picture contained something that no one could imagine: what appeared to be a large antenna, anchored to the seabed.
posted by Prof. Hex at 6:03 AM
DARPA Takes a Crack at the Flying Car
The flying car, a goal of starry-eyed engineers since at least the beginning of the last century, is getting the DARPA treatment. Called Transformer TX, this flying Humvee-like prototype could be airborne by 2015.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:47 AM
"Hellhound on His Trail": The creep who killed MLK
The seedy true-crime story of how James Earl Ray assassinated a great American hero
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:11 AM
Hamburg students near completion on Civil War submarine project
From 3 to 4:30 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday, a group of Hamburg Area High School students work to solve a mystery that's nearly 150 years old.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:01 AM
April 20, 1841: ‘Rue Morgue’ Paves Way for Detective Genre
The prolific Poe was born in Boston in 1809, and eventually died under mysterious circumstances in Baltimore in 1849. But, in the United States, he was known better during his life as a literary critic than a craftsman, though more famous in Europe for his fiction.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:41 AM
On the Heels of Jack the Ripper
Despite the constant change, London is a city very much aware of its past, almost as though the city is a living thing possessed of a memory.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:19 AM
Monday, April 19, 2010
7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls
A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers. Thanks, Scott!
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:27 PM
Agent stalks dark path of serial killer
Searching for the Colonial Parkway killer. Wiki.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:12 AM
JACK THE RIPPER
For such a disorganised killer, Jack the Ripper was horribly successful.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:07 AM
Mysteries of super villain's city past revealed
Yes, the world's first super villain, the yellow peril incarnate and international criminal mastermind, Dr Fu Manchu was a student at Edinburgh University, a fact he himself revealed in The Mask of Fu Manchu in 1932.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:05 AM
Mysteries of the deep: Lake Michigan shipwrecks discovered off coast
In an era when the Great Lakes served as the highway for Midwestern commerce, Holland and Grand Haven were major ports on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:02 AM
Mystery behind mummy's missing toe solved after 50 yrs
The age-old mystery of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten’s lost left big toe has been solved—it has been residing in Liverpool for the past 50 years.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:02 AM
Book untangles infamous Arizona murder
From the time this woman stepped off a train that she rode from Phoenix to Los Angeles in October 1931, the blood seeping from her baggage trapped her in a bizarre murder mystery that captured attention around the world.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:01 AM
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Mystery of the Missing Man of Steel
Figuring out how that particular painting of the guy in a red cape and blue tights came to be hanging in the Lehman College library, just past the card catalog, high above tall shelves of books, took longer than it takes a speeding bullet to go almost anywhere.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:34 PM
Decapitated man found at temple may be human sacrifice, police say
Police in India are investigating a suspected case of human sacrifice after the severed head and naked torso of a man were found at a temple to the goddess Kali in the state of West Bengal.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:37 PM
Tweakers 'N Diggers
Looters are pillaging Native American burial grounds to finance their meth habits.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:48 PM
Earps have a history in San Bernardino County
The Earp clan is bigger than life, a cast of colorful characters enriching the history of the San Bernardino area, according to historian/author and teacher Nick Cataldo.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:43 PM
Friday, April 16, 2010
A mysterious powder and a miscarriage prompt investigation of restaurateur
LAPD investigators have been trying to determine whether Joshua Woodward intentionally gave his pregnant girlfriend a drug used to induce early term abortions. Very strange and creepy.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:44 AM
Of giant eels
Excellent essay by Mike Dash on the mysterious "horse eels" of legend. Recommended.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:19 AM
What is that 'Thing' enticing travelers on I-10?
For half a century, and for about a 100 miles each way from Dragoon, Arizona, travelers along I-10 are urged by large yellow billboards to check out “The Thing?” when they arrive in Dragoon. And for decades I have been intrigued by the question, but never quite enough to stop and inquire.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:52 AM
Dave Bakke: Mystery of Custer massacre 'survivor' solved
Mary Personeus was with Gen. George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry as they approached the Little Big Horn, according to her grandsons. They say their grandmother was in camp that day in 1876 when Custer and the Seventh were wiped out.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:31 AM
Frank Searle's lost second book
There was a time, early in the 1970s, when Searle was quite respected at the loch. He was certainly the only monster-hunter who stayed in the field throughout the year and, from his base near Foyers on the south shore of the loch, he put in an estimated 20,000 hours of observation, both from the lochside and his boat – with conspicuous lack of success. He was admired for his Spartan lifestyle and his dedication. Via
Disinformation , which is now added to the links.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:12 AM
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Monsters of the Lakes
Flesh and blood, or phantoms? See also:
60-pound python dumped by owner becomes 'Monster of Lake Evans'
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:37 PM
The curious history of the Saragossa Manuscript
For over 200 years it has been bowdlerized, published illegally, plagiarized, lost, rediscovered, mis-titled, and attributed to everyone from Washington Irving to Cagliostro. Its author, Count Jan Potocki, is recognized as the father of Slavic archeology and made one of the earliest European balloon ascensions.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:24 PM
Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky
With video.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:18 PM
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Borderline--Madonna/Bluegrass fusion (really)
My old buddy Will bluegrasses up Madonna's "Borderline."
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:09 PM
Man Finds Mysterious Fluid-Secreting Skull; Local News Anchor Baffled
Years ago, Tony Richardson found a strange skull on the sea floor. After 15 years of silence (and keeping the skull in his garage), he's demanding answers. Via
Fark.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:31 PM
How to Escape Handcuffs
Are you being held captive? Want to escape from the police? Well here's how you escape from handcuffs, after that you're on your own.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:00 PM
'Sorceror' Hew Draper's Tower of London graffiti: a black art indeed
The spectacular astrological engravings carved by Hew Draper into his Tower of London cell offer a glimpse into Britain's magical past.
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:00 AM
Who Wrote Shakespeare and Why You Should Care
Book Review.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:32 AM
No Way to Treat A Lady: The Venice Saga of Myrna Loy
In the early 1920’s, the school’s most famous statues were erected as part of a fountain in front of the school. The three life-size concrete statues were modeled from school students. The central standing female figure perched as a Venus-on-a-Half shell, was the soon-to-be-Hollywood-star, 16-year-old Myrna Loy.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:12 AM
Mysterious ancient helmet battles to €77,000
With cool pic.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:56 AM
Lost Drawing Of Nessie By Escher
A long forgotten painting was found in an old Italian attic. The painting had been put aside for years, until traffic police office Raffaele De Feo decided to examine the drawing up close. The drawing was done in 1949 and was signed by M.C. Escher and titled “Loch Ness Monster and Black Man without a Face”.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:39 AM
The search for a shipwreck near Four Mile Point
Many, many years ago while looking over a nautical chart of the Choctawhatchee Bay, I noted that the map revealed the identifying mark of hull bones just off Four Mile Point, which is located north of the Sandestin Resort area. I think the map was dated in the area of 1950.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:22 AM
Himmler’s Eerie Castle Explores Warped SS Ideology, Nazi Crimes
Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi official who organized the Holocaust, planned to turn Wewelsburg castle into a center for elite meetings of the SS -- a place to nurture its twisted racist ideology and honor the dead.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:20 AM
Only known living population of rare dwarf lemur discovered
Researchers have discovered the world's only known living population of Sibree's Dwarf Lemur, a rare lemur known only in eastern Madagascar.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:15 AM
Message in a bottle mystery has been unravelled
The mystery of a message in a bottle that arrived on the shores of Australia has been unravelled, revealing the great lengths one whisky bottle travelled.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:04 AM
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Only known copy of 1913 silent film about Lincoln saved from old NH barn slated for demolition
In a tale celebrating the romance of movies, a contractor cleaning out an old New Hampshire barn destined for demolition found seven reels of nitrate film inside, including the only known copy of a 1913 silent film about Abraham Lincoln.
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:29 PM
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tea Party Candidate Carl Paladino emails bestiality porn to associates
WNYMedia.net has uncovered a disturbing series of emails sent to friends, supporters, and associates from Paladino's email account that feature racist imagery and - perhaps more disturbingly - pornography featuring horses.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:29 PM
Stuffed animals to be sold at auction - Telegraph
A collection of bizarre stuffed animals including a unicorn, flying cat, yeti, and other curious creatures purportedly discovered by a Victorian adventurer are to be sold at auction.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:37 AM
'Cure' is found for skin cancer, claim scientists
A vaccine being tested in the UK has helped been shown to help some patients fully recover from melanoma, even in its advanced stages.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:36 AM
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Hey folks...
Sorry for the lack of recent posts but I'm on a much-needed vacation in Austin, Texas. I also have limited computer access. I'll be back next week with more weird stuff so in the mean time check out my links and take care of yourselves.
Hugs and kisses,
The Professor
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:57 AM
