Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Man discovers a new life-form at a South African truck stop 

Like many biologists, the German biologist Oliver Zompro spends thousands of hours looking at specimens of dead animals.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:35 PM

Monday, April 25, 2011

Albert Einstein's granddaughter Evelyn dies (but was she really his secret illegitimate child?) 

Albert Einstein’s granddaughter has died with a mystery still unsolved over whether she was really the illegitimate child of one of the great minds of the 20th century.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:00 PM

Human cannonball stuntman dies after safety net failure 

23-year-old performer dies in hospital after accident at Scott May's Daredevil Stunt Show at Kent county showground.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:45 PM

Mongolian Death Worm: Legendary Creepy-Crawly Desert Killer 

Just as intrepid explorers still search for Genghis Khan's grave, reality-TV crews still anxiously seek the sausage-like, homicidal pseudo-penis dentata dubbed the olgoi-khorkhoi, or the "intestine worm."

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:44 AM

Peeping into monks' minds to unravel meditation mystery 

In an unusual research, over 20 prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks have undergone brain scanning by a neuroscientist here to unravel the ancient practice of meditation.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:57 AM

Oklahoma officer aims to find grave locations of 4 lawmen lost to history 

A Lawton police officer is using his sleuthing skills to investigate a mystery involving four dead police officers.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:57 AM

Friday, April 22, 2011

Unlocking The Mystery Of Paris’ Most Secret Underground Society 

On August 23, 2004, they discovered a cinema 18m beneath Paris.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:24 PM

Meditation can relieve pain, stress 

How and why meditation is so effective in this way has been somewhat of a mystery in the past, but now thanks to modern technology, scientists are beginning to discover the brain changes that occur during meditation and that contribute to its benefit.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:22 PM

The mystery of Tiananmen Square’s disappearing Confucius statue 

The giant, 10-metre-high statue of Confucius that stood in front of the National Museum of China on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square was discreetly removed from its pedestal on Wednesday, March 15, causing a buzz of speculation on China's web.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:18 PM

Karoo town plagued by ‘monster’ 

“The community says that the monster changes shape while you are looking at it,” Warrant Officer Zandisile Nelani said.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:39 PM

Austrian buried treasure revealed 

With a few pics. Pretty cool stuff.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:36 PM

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Irene terrified as ghost comes a-calling 

Pensioner Irene Russ has spent the last year terrified of buzzing noises and eerie blue lights that woke her every day at exactly 3.13am.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:52 PM

Was the Merry Monarch’s birth heralded by a supernova? 

The mystery of the supernova that created the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant may have found a solution in the story of a daylight star seen at the time of the birth of King Charles II in 1630.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:51 PM

Jack the Ripper was a German sailor, ex-UK detective claims 

Jack the Ripper was probably a German merchant seaman named Carl Feigenbaum. This is a theory proposed by former English murder squad detective Trevor Marriott.


See also: FBI dossier reveals chilling profile of Jack the Ripper... shame it was released 100 years too late

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:45 PM

Amazing Navigation Skills Seen in Humpback Whales 

The giants that migrate farther than any other mammal on Earth, humpback whales, do so with mysterious, extraordinary accuracy, veering off course by less than 1 degree over hundreds of miles, scientists find.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:41 PM

The strange case of the lost luchador-versus-Dracula nudie flick 

We live in a world in which the son of a famous luchador can use the sheer force of his legacy to prevent topless vampires from corrupting the populace.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:58 PM

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Aiming to end a mystery, Chile will exhume Allende 

Chilean judge Mario Carroza on Friday ordered the disinterment after receiving a request from Allende relatives, and the action should take place in "the second half of May," a spokesman for the judiciary told AFP.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:18 PM

Chicago cop spends restless hours on trail of notorious Zodiac killer 

Chicago Police Lt. John Lewison says he’s come up with a solution to the cryptogram, one of several left behind by a killer who is said to be connected to at least five homicides in San Francisco and other California towns in the 1960s and 1970s.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:48 PM

Strange sightings in Bay skies 

With pic.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:47 PM

Elephant Hunt Underway in Pub Beer Garden 

Well, over a hundred and fifty years ago, local folklore says a travelling animal show, including an elephant amongst its exhibits, visited the Welsh market town of Tregaron.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:39 PM

University of Illinois Receives Mysterious Confession to Old Prank 

The man on the recording says he was the founder of the Statue Liberation Society and helped steal not only the Lincoln bust – which turned up a few days after the theft sitting atop a tree stump at a campus golf course - but had a hand in a series of statue thefts over the next few years.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:35 PM

Blobs In Space Yield Mystery and Wonder 

BLOBS...IN...SPAAAAAACE!

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:33 PM

Mason-Dixon mystery solved by Pa. college students 

The land survey that settled a border feud between Pennsylvania and Maryland predates the Civil War by a century. It started at a house in Philadelphia whose location was only recently confirmed by a group of college students paging through centuries-old property records.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:18 PM

Last Supper: we might have got the date wrong, says academic 

Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, has concluded that the meal took place on the Wednesday before the crucifixion, a day earlier than accepted.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:17 PM

Mystery of British couple's 'toxic seaweed' death in Chiang Mai 

A British couple, a 23-year-old New Zealander, and a Thai tour guide all died within 16 days in adjoining rooms at the three-star Downtown Inn in February.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:51 PM

It’s the Devil’s 100th birthday in Wisconsin 

How the lake got its name is much debated, but it most likely was a botched translation of various Native American names that meant Spirit Lake.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:21 PM

Friday, April 15, 2011

Did Sarah Palin Carry Out the Biggest Hoax in American Political History? 

Professor Bradford Scharlott of Northern Kentucky University has looked into this story in detail and written a long academic article about it. He concludes two things: First, that the "conspiracy theory" is likely true.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:25 PM

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How the ancient Romans made MSG 

Monosodium glutamate is a food additive that enhances flavor. Although it's frowned upon today, the ancient Romans loved it and ate it with almost every meal.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:28 AM

Victim's family smiles as filmmaker Twitchell convicted of first-degree murder 

An aspiring filmmaker was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder in a bizarre case that blurred the line between truth and pulp fiction — a killing that mimicked the plot of a horror movie he had made just weeks before.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:17 AM

Couple tried to check in dead cow on Virgin Atlantic flight to London 

They arrived with the wrapped-up carcass on a trolley at New York’s JFK Airport and wanted to board the flight to London’s Heathrow Airport.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:14 AM

Let wonderfully weird kakapo die 

It might not be worth trying to save the kakapo, the critically endangered native bird that has been on the brink of extinction for decades, an Australian scientist says.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:12 AM

Newly-released FBI memo from 1950 confirms "flying saucers" crashing in New Mexico 

It's unclear whether this memo is a hoax, but it has just appeared on the FBI's "vault" website, devoted to once-classified documents that have become public. The brief memo contains information from an Air Force informant about "flying saucers."

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:06 AM

Monday, April 11, 2011

Killing the Buddha 

What happens when Hollywood gets a hold of your gods.

In this case, Thor.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:46 PM

Short Sharp Science: UFO search engine for those who want to believe 

Gird yourself for a whole new wave of alien conspiracy theories: the FBI has placed hundreds of pages of information on its past UFO investigations online in a new, searchable database.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:43 PM

Cops: 'Startling' find of 2 more bodies 

A renewed search into Nassau County for clues to a serial killer has turned up two sets of human remains, the ninth and 10th such discoveries on the barrier island since last year, police said.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:42 PM

Monday, April 04, 2011

The Mystery of Stack-O-Lee 

A great article about music's most mysterious bad man.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:59 PM

Book points finger over assassination of Malcolm X 

A new book resurrects the long-standing mystery and suggests that some of those responsible for the activist minister's death have never been prosecuted.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:43 PM

Search finds bodies 2 years after mystery crash 

Nearly two years after an Air France plane mysteriously fell out of the sky, killing 228 people, the bulk of the wreckage has been found with bodies still aboard, French officials said Monday.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:41 PM

Files reveal bungled Nazi submarine mission to the US 

A Nazi submarine mission to the United States during World War II that aimed to unleash a wave of terror ended in farce after being hit by a series of disasters, newly released files showed on Monday.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:37 PM

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Ancient Greek Computer Had Surprising Sun Tracker 

The world's oldest astronomical calculator is famous for having intricate gear systems centuries ahead of their time. But new work shows the Antikythera mechanism used pure geometry, as well as flashy gears to track celestial bodies’ motion through the heavens.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:05 PM