Thursday, March 31, 2011

4-year-old girl in China turned away from school because of deformed feet 

Poor kid. With pic.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:17 PM

HRF Keating, RIP 

Over half a century, he published roughly 50 novels. More than two dozen of these featured his best-known hero, the unassuming Indian policeman Inspector Ganesh Ghote, who also appeared in short stories, and television and film adaptations of Keating's books.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:01 PM

NASA Probe to Reveal Whole New Mercury 

A NASA spacecraft now circling Mercury is set to tackle some big mysteries of the scorched, tiny world – including whether or not water ice lurks in its shadowy craters.

With cool pic.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:58 PM

Antique pistol found in P'town loaded with mystery 

A beachcomber found the remains of a Colonial-era firearm that could be connected with one of the Cape's most famous shipwrecks — the HMS Somerset III, which wrecked off Truro in 1778.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:56 PM

FBI Flooded With Tips on Encrypted Notes From 1999 Murder Mystery 

Two days after soliciting the public's help in deciphering two coded notes found in the pocket of a Missouri man believed murdered 12 years ago, FBI officials are being inundated with potential clues.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:50 PM

Robots dive deep underwater to solve airliner crash mystery 

A small squadron of undersea robots has begun to conduct a 4 month, 3,900 square mile search of Atlantic Ocean bottom looking for the deep-sea wreck site of and black boxes from Air France Flight 447 which crashed off the coast of Brazil nearly two years ago.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:48 PM

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

How many groups reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus? 

Here's the question I want to consider: between the first wave of human settlement of the Americas all those thousands of years ago and the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, how many other groups reached the Americas?

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Excavation of Robin Hood's Cave may help solve mystery 

It's not exactly the Da Vinci Code but very intriguing just the same.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:09 PM

Torso found in Thames identified 

'Victim of voodoo ritual' named as 5-year-old 'Adam'.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:04 PM

132-Pound Toddler "A Medical Mystery" 

Lu Hao, a 3-year-old boy in Dashan, China, weighs five times more than an average child his age, and he's rapidly gaining weight. So far, his doctors aren't sure what's causing his amazing size.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:02 PM

Could this be the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls? 

70 metal books found in cave in Jordan could change our view of Biblical history.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:49 PM

10 Mysterious Underground Cities 

Humans like to build cities that reach for the sky, but sometimes they also build downward.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:48 PM

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Computing pioneer Jean Jennings Bartik dies 

Jean Jennings Bartik, the last of six women programmers who debugged and operated the earliest general-purpose computer, has died.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:33 PM

'Jesus's Crown of Thorns' goes on display at British Museum 

It was plundered in the Fourth Crusade, sold to French royalty and has spent the past 200 years in safekeeping at a British public school.

Now a relic claimed to be a thorn from Jesus's crown is to go on display at the British Museum.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:59 PM

Thomas Byers Claims to Have Video of Bigfoot in North Carolina 

With fantastically bad video.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:16 PM

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Mystery Car 78: 1907 Victor was monster truck of its era 

It is not surprising, then, that there were more than 200 manufacturers of electric cars before 1915. While we remember some, like Baker, Waverley and Detroit, there were many others now long forgotten and correspondingly rare.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:52 PM

Everglades' 'tree islands' grew from ancient trash dumps 

These life-sustaining sources of nutrients for one of America's iconic ecosystems originated thousands of years ago as the trash heaps of prehistoric people who lived around present-day Miami.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:50 PM

The cold paw: Russian scientists set up 'Yeti' institute 

Russia is setting up a university research institute to study the Yeti after a spate of claimed recent sightings in Siberia.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:45 PM

The speed of light could turn the middle of the ocean into a stock-trading center 

When the world's financial giants begin creating vast artificial islands in the middle of the oceans to use as the hubs of stock-trading, it'll all be because of the speed of light.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:38 PM

Mystery solved? 

At the 1904 World’s Fair, visitors flocked to the Ferris wheel. Two years later, it was demolished and only the center axle remained. The 70-ton solid-steel axle has since been lost to St. Louis mythology, with rumors running rampant about what happened to it.

But Maplewood resident Jeff Todisman thinks he knows where it may be.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:33 PM

Dany Chiasson taps into the mystery that is Joan of Arc 

Filmmaker Dany Chiasson’s obsession with Joan of Arc began more than 30 years ago during the long walks she’d take each Sunday with her grandmother on their way to church.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:32 PM

Scantily-clad stage assistant to Harry Houdini who took the secrets of his feats of escapology to the grave 

Dorothy Young, who died on Sunday aged 103, was the last surviving stage assistant to Harry Houdini, the master showman, illusionist and escapologist.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:26 PM

Mexico says $4 million Maya statue is a fake 

The Mexican government argued Wednesday that a Mayan-style statue auctioned for a record $4 million (2.9 million euros) this week is a fake. Auctioneers insisted it is genuine and charged Mexico wants to quash legal sales of pre-Hispanic artifacts.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:22 PM

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Legend of the Chupacabra: Mystery Solved? 

In some circles, it's considered the pet animal of alien visitors. Others believe it's the result of a NASA experiment gone wrong. Still other conspiracy theorists say it's the source of the HIV/AIDS virus.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:26 AM

Frank Neuhauser, winner of first national spelling bee, dies at 97 

Frank Neuhauser, a Washington area patent lawyer who made headlines more than 85 years ago when he won the first-ever national spelling bee, died March 11 at his home in Silver Spring. He was 97 and had myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disease.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:21 AM

Huddersfield diver Sean Ryan finds buried treasure in English Channel miner 

"I have been working as a commercial diver for 25 years and never found anything like this before."

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:02 AM

Lost Aborigine's secret grave uncovered at last 

Burial place of British colonists' first ally found in suburban garden.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:53 AM

The Stone Spheres: A Costa Rican Mystery 

Known to the Ticos who live in the area as Las Bolas, these stone spheres, some three hundred in number, have both puzzled and fascinated scholars and visitors alike.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:50 AM

Isotopes from teeth unravel 140-year-old mystery from Franklin voyage 

It’s perhaps the coldest of Canadian cold cases: Whose skeleton was recovered from a High Arctic island in 1869 and entombed in a British memorial dedicated to the lost Franklin Expedition?

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:37 AM

Pinetop Perkins, RIP 

"He was absolutely the premier blues piano player," said Bruce Iglauer, founder of Chicago's Alligator Records, an independent blues label. "His career spanned literally over 80 years. He was the symbol of a whole generation of musicians."

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:22 AM

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Peter the Wild Boy's condition revealed 200 years after his death 

Feral German child who was kept as a pet in George I's court had Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, research into portrait suggests.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:15 PM

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sculpture mystery baffles Concordia researchers 

The university has put the limestone statue of two intertwined, large-headed figures on display in the main atrium of the downtown engineering campus.

Cool story.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:17 PM

Video: Bigfoot Hunted By Helicopter ? 

With video.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:50 PM

Leslie Hindman to sell rare autographed photo of Jesse James 

On April 5 Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will sell the only known signed photograph of Jesse Woodson James.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:23 PM

Of Blood Transfusions and Beastliness 

The first human transfusions involved taking the blood of animals–mostly dogs, cows, and sheep–and putting it into human veins.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:18 PM

They vanished into thin air 

The greatest legion of the Roman Empire disappeared in the Scottish borders in 117AD....

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:16 PM

Hyperactive Comet Hartley 2 Perplexes Astronomers 

With pics.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:07 PM

Does this picture reveal the truth about Windermere's Bownessie? 

A bow wave generated by a nearby boat created a stream of smaller waves which look remarkably like the humps often reported by people who believe they have seen a creature.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:06 PM

UFO riddle solved: Meet our extra terrestrial friends... in Iran 

The Middle East country today boasted that it has built the world’s first flying saucer. It is called Zohal – or Saturn in English – and is an unmanned spaceship designed for 'aerial imaging'.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:06 PM

A Few Very Mysterious People 

Down through history, there have been those whose lives have been cloaked in mystery.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:04 PM

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

How One Man Waged War Against Gravity 

The story of Roger Babson, gravity's sworn enemy, and his Gravity Research Foundation.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:05 PM

10 Civilizations That Mysteriously Disappeared 

Throughout our history, most civilizations have either met a slow demise or were wiped out by sudden natural disasters or invasion. But there are a few societies whose disappearance has scholars truly stumped.

Hat tip to Scott.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:09 PM

Booms revive an old mystery 

Return of the Seneca Guns.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:04 PM

Bat-mystery solved! Bruce Wayne is a Yale graduate! 

Apparently unsatisfied with such alumni as Presidents Ford, Bush, Clinton and Bush, Secretary of State Clinton, several Supreme Court justices and senators, and holographic doctor Robert Picardo, Yale University has laid claim to one more distinguished graduate: billionaire playboy-philanthropist Bruce Wayne.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:59 AM

After 14-Years Phoenix Lights Still A Mystery 

Sunday, March 13, 2011 marked the 14th anniversary of one of the most enigmatic events in Arizona and UFO history, a state-wide sequence of observations and reports that has come to be known as the Phoenix Lights.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:57 AM

Chuck Zukowski: Reserve deputy fired over paranormal investigations 

Chuck Zukowski likes to think that his work as an El Paso County reserve deputy sheriff sharpened his skills as an off-duty investigator of cattle mutilations, UFO and Bigfoot sightings and ghostly apparitions -- and vice versa.

See also: Reader: I might have doubted Chuck Zukowski video, too, if I hadn't personally seen Bigfoot

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:51 AM

Monday, March 14, 2011

Long Beach tricyclist: At 103, Octavio Orduño is a three-wheeled wonder 

If it were up to Octavio Orduño, he'd still be cruising Long Beach on a two-wheeled bicycle. But his wife insisted he get a tricycle.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:24 PM

Laser Scan May Reveal Stonehenge Secrets 

Modern technology may be the key to unlock hidden secrets about an ancient monument: Stonehenge.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:29 PM

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lake Lights Up at Night 

Bioluminescent algae hits lakes in Australia. Cool pics.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:23 AM

The year 2000 as envisioned in the year 1910 

In 1910, French artist Villemard produced a series of illustrations depicting what life might be like in the year 2000.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:51 AM

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Buried soldiers may be victims of ancient chemical weapon 

Almost 2,000 years ago, 19 Roman soldiers rushed into a cramped underground tunnel, prepared to defend the Roman-held Syrian city of Dura-Europos from an army of Persians digging to undermine the city's mudbrick walls. But instead of Persian soldiers, the Romans met with a wall of noxious black smoke that turned to acid in their lungs.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:53 PM

Is lake monster a tyre? New photo shams 'Bownessie' 

A mythical beast rumoured to be lurking under UK’s Lake Windermere might be nothing but a floating old tyre.

With pics.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:47 AM

Boating Ogopogo or funny engineering prank? 

A boat hanging from a Kelowna, B.C. bridge with a mythical Ogopogo sea monster at the helm has all the hallmarks of a university engineering prank, say police in the province's Okanagan region.

With video.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:44 AM

Mystery of Two Suns in Chinese Sky Leaves Scientists Puzzled 

The phenomena over China is something so rare that science has not had the opportunity to fully investigate its properties.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:30 AM

Intended recipient of lost WWII letter found 

But who sent it and who it was for remained a mystery — just like the question of where it had been for so long.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:29 AM

Terminally ill cancer patient blogs anonymously his last 51 hours before taking fatal overdose... tomorrow 

A terminal cancer patient who has vowed to kill himself has been answering questions from the public over the Internet during his final days.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:27 AM

The Tex Files: Roswell Carswell Photos 

Key UFO Evidence First Photographed in Fort Worth.

See also: Del Rio Flying Saucer Mystery

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:26 AM

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Irvin Leigh Matus, 69, penniless Shakespeare scholar who lived by his own design 

Two months after Mr. Matus died Jan. 5 of a stroke at his apartment in Silver Spring at 69, people who knew him are still puzzling over how a brilliant man whose scholarship was recognized around the world came to lead such an unconventional life, often just one step from destitution.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:56 PM

Happy Birthday, Will Eisner! 

Nice job, Google.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:30 AM

Road trip to the end of the world 

If you thought you had less than three perfectly healthy months to live, what would you do? Would you travel? Spend time with loved ones? Appreciate the joy life has given you?

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:33 AM

Saturday, March 05, 2011

John C.H. Grabill's Photos of Western Frontier Life 

Between 1887 and 1892, John C.H. Grabill sent 188 photographs to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. Grabill is known as a western photographer, documenting many aspects of frontier life – hunting, mining, western town landscapes and white settlers’ relationships with Native Americans. Most of his work is centered on Deadwood in the late 1880s and 1890s. He is most often sited for his photographs in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Fantastic. Via Fark.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:19 PM

Friday, March 04, 2011

England's 17th century witch chronicles put online 

A 350-year-old notebook which documents the trials of women convicted of witchcraft in England during the 17th century has been published online.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:59 PM

Meet Alex Jones, the Talk Radio Host Behind Charlie Sheen's Crazy Rants 

The most paranoid man in America is trying to overthrow the 'global Stasi Borg state,' one conspiracy theory at a time.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:00 AM

Following controversy, mummies at Penn Museum remain objects of mystery 

The Beauty of Xiaohe, a mummy from the torrid deserts of western China, had a long but uneventful trip to Philadelphia.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:52 AM

The Great Lost Library Of Alcuin’s York 

In the eighth century, the library and school headed by the renowned scholar Alcuin meant York was respected across Europe, but all trace of the library has since disappeared.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:51 AM

Amelia Earhart mystery takes bizarre twist 

Rumours involving sunken treasure and one of the world's great aviation mysteries are swirling around the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:43 AM

UFO mystery deepens 

Maryborough’s UFO phenomenon remains unsolved after government authorities and weather experts yesterday failed to explain strange orange lights sighted by hundreds of residents during the past week.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:40 AM

Space sleuths solve mystery of missing sunspots 

Space scientists yesterday said they could explain why spots disappeared off the face of the Sun for two years, a mystery that had challenged a mainstream theory about our star.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:39 AM

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Student may have been lured to ‘occult’ bunker, father fears 

A student who disappeared a year ago may have been drawn to an underground bunker to look at erotic paintings connected with the occult, his father believes.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:18 AM

Robert Kennedy's Killer Sirhan Sirhan Says He Was Brainwashed 

A lawyer for Sirhan Sirhan, the confessed assassin of Robert F. Kennedy, plans to present new evidence at a parole board hearing suggesting that he did not act alone, was potentially brain washed and cannot remember anything about the 43-year-old shooting.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:11 AM

Tex Files: Lake Worth Monster 

It’s a classic mystery close to home. In the late 1960s North Texas was talking about a monster in a local lake.

With video, originally aired in 1999.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:23 AM

Archaeologists to excavate 1,000-year-old canoe from Weedon Island muck 

After years of anticipation, experts armed with trowels will begin to unearth a 1,000-year-old mystery this morning that could help shed light on Tampa Bay's rich past.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:15 AM

Mysterious Florida panther deaths have officials concerned 

Is it open season on Florida panthers?

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:14 AM

UFO sighting in Brazil: Footage from Sao Paolo shows 'flying saucer' 

The city of Sao Paolo is abuzz after amateur footage showing what appears to be an unidentified flying object appeared moving through the clouds.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:13 AM

Mystery animal ravaging Bell County livestock 

In a rural neighborhood south of Killeen, farmers say a mysterious predator has been killing their livestock.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:07 AM

Did you hear it? What shook Elyria remains a mystery 

Lots of you felt it, but whatever shook downtown Elyria last night remains a mystery, at least to authorities.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:05 AM

In from the cold: After 5,300 years, Oetzi the iceman finally shows his face 

He doesn't look half bad for a 5,300-year-old.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:03 AM