“There’s not a lot of argument that this is going to screw us if we don’t do something,” said NASA engineer Creon Levit. “Right now it’s at the tipping point… and it just keeps getting worse.”

[WIRED]

“Parvika Khan, the teacher who was conducting an Urdu class for Class 5 last Monday, asked a boy to read the text on the blackboard. But the boy said the blackboard was blank, and ran away screaming that he saw an “egg-shaped ghost” coming out of the blackboard.”

[Indian Express]

Spoiler Alert: Yeah they don’t really seem to like it that much. They like it even less when the robot warns them it is about to touch them ahead of time.

[Geekologie]

Back in September of 2009, Jonathan Doyle ran around Monadnock State Park dressed as Bigfoot scaring and amusing hikers while his friends filmed the encounters. He then returned to human form and interviewed the bystanders. The park rangers did not appreciate this stunt and when Doyle returned later that month for a follow up, he was barred from filming. And now Doyle is suing:

Backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Jonathan Doyle is suing the state, arguing that the requirement to pay $100 for a special use permit 30 days in advance and get a $2 million insurance bond violates his free speech rights.

Doyle’s attorneys say no one complained to the state park service after Doyle first dressed as Bigfoot, ran around the rocky top of Mount Monadnock, returned to human form and interviewed bystanders about what they saw Sept. 6, 2009.

[Yahoo! News]

No one wants to be the first person to die from anything. No one wants to choke to death while the smoke you’ve just inhaled in your lungs turns to acid. So can you have to be double cheesed off if you were among the Roman soldiers who were the first to die from chemical warfare in 256 A. freaking D.

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. Their crystal-pommeled swords were no match for this weapon; the Romans choked and died in moments, many with their last pay of coins still slung in purses on their belts.

It’s an awesome story which you should read right now.

[LiveScience]

Auto Ink is a three axis numerically controlled sculpture. Once the main switch is triggered, the operator is assigned a religion and its corresponding symbol is tattooed onto the person’s arm. The operator does not have control over the assigned symbol. It is assigned either randomly or through divine intervention, depending on your personal beliefs.

[Make via Geekologie]

The Air Force has launched its second X-37B space plane (X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-2 to you) into orbit for a 270 day mission. The original mission lasted for 224 days before OTV-1 landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in December and managed to shake observers by changing orbit more than a few times.  The Air Force won’t say what they are up to, but the Chinese and Russians are skeptical.

While the Air Force has said the space plane is designed to stay in orbit for 270 days, it hasn’t said much about the overall mission. It has said only that the vehicle provides a way to test new technologies in outer space, such as satellite sensors and other components.

[LA Times]

[Ghost Theory via Daily Mail]

“In the last 10 years chupacabra just means anything weird,” Radford said. “It means some dead animal of some sort that we can’t identify.”

Masks. Sure we’ve seen them used by serial killers and surgeons for years, but what are the absolute five creepiest of human history? Let’s find out.

Tibetan Ritual Mask: In a culture big on rituals in general, masks play a huge rule. We couldn’t find the exact purpose of this bad boy but we’re going to guess it’s the ritual of waking your child up in the middle of the night and scaring them until they finally learn that doing the dishes means washing and drying.

Hannya Mask: A Japanese creation. This is said to represent a jealous female demon in Noh theater. We are particularly fond of it because the demon looks kind of confused. Like someone threw a surprise party for it and then lead it over to a cake box. But then when they opened the lid the sheet cake was covered in live bugs.

Anglo Saxon Ship-Burial Helmet: This very rare find (only four have been recovered intact) isn’t particularly creepy but it does look like an advanced robot grew a mustache. We are also shocked this hasn’t been co-opted by Kanye West. Yet.

Kifwebe: Members of the Kifwebe society in what is now known as Zaire had a reputation for supernatural power, which was represented in this mask. It’s said that the features of the face are representations of where the Kifwebe get their powers, for example:

The eye slits are said to the “holes of termites” and “the swelling of sorcerers;” the chin represents the snout of a crocodile; the long, pointed mouth resembles the beak of a bird, also the “flame of a sorcerer;”

Does anyone want to bet me that Charlie Sheen uses the term “flame of a sorcerer” sometime in the next two weeks?

Plague Doctor Beak Mask: During the plague, so many folks needed medical attention that these total creepers became a welcome site. The entire, fun ensemble came equipped with a creepy robe and even creepier poking stick for “examinations.”

The bird beak had a functional purpose of holding scents like mint and vinegar so the wearer didn’t have to sniff death all day and was protected from miasmatic air.

Bad news was, the dudes who normally suited up as plague doctors were either folks who could not hack it in normal medical practice or recent students just beginning their careers. Either way, it didn’t look good for the patient. Then again, not much did, since they had the plague and all.

They are represented in myth, legend and even religion for centuries, but what happened to our fascination for giants? While other cryptids bask in our attention, the lumbering behemoths haven’t had a spot in the cultural sunshine in decades.

But yet, there was a time in this country when folks would flock from miles around to get a glimpse of proof this curious creatures existed. Even if the evidence was completely manufactured.

In the 19th century, facsimiles of giants and petrified humans captured the public imagination at sideshows. The most famous of these fakes was the Cardiff Giant, a 10-foot-long, 3,000 pound block of gypsum that was sculpted to look like a fossilized man and was exhibited in upstate New York in late 1869. The Cardiff Giant was the brainchild of tobacconist George Hull, who was inspired by the Nephilim of the Book of Genesis to create his oversized hoax.

The Cardiff Giant was so popular it was blatantly copied and recreated by the Patron Saint of this very site P.T. Barnum. Hull was so incensed by ripoff and attempted to sue Barnum. However, he ran into legal issues when he realized he’d have to vouch for the authenticity of his giant to claim damages.

[io9]

The Nation Of Islam has announced that among the topics discussed during this year’s Saviours’ Day Convention in Chicago will be a panel discussing proof of alien visitation and why global sightings are on the rise.

Flying saucers have long been a part of the official NOI doctrine, including founder Elijah Muhammad’s reports of a hovering object known as the “Mother Plane.” Current leader Minister Louis Farrakhan last year described a visitation by a floating object known as “The Wheel.”

During last year’s Saviours’ Day speech, Farrakhan for the first time in years discussed in detail a vision he had in Mexico in 1985 involving an object he calls “the wheel.” Using charts, photos and drawings, he spent almost four hours describing how he was invited aboard and heard Elijah Muhammad speak to him. Farrakhan says that experience led him to inklings about future events.

Farrakhan, 77, has said the wheel, with its great capacity for destruction, contains the “wisdom to purify the planet,” but has harmed no one so far. He also claimed there have been governmental attempts to cover-up proof of the wheel, which he says many call UFOs.

No word yet from Farrakhan if “The Wheel” in the sky keeps on turning, although he presumably knows where he will be tomorrow.

[AP]

The gang debuts the brand new Podcastr webapp for listening to the show. Brian debates the thought process of Ronald Reagan as he confesses his alien invasion fears to Mikhail Gorbachev. Adventure scientists Dr. Herb Vellasic and Viederman try to crack the case of the frog plague. Andrew, for one, welcomes our new robot overlords in the wake of Watson pwning the Jeopardy! champions.

Try out the brand new PODCASTR player, featuring wireless syncing between desktop browsers and iOS devices, by clicking on the image:

Subscribe to the Weird Things podcast on iTunes
Podcast RSS feed
Episode archive
Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings022511.mp3

[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings022511.mp3[/podcast]

Picks:

Andrew

Philip Kaufman’s “The Right Stuff” (1983)

Brian

Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games”

Justin

Peter F. Hamilton “Judas Unchained”

Sponsored by:

@LonelyDotGeek

The Chibi Project

Expired Meat

I don’t think there is anything I can add to this…

[MSNBC]

The Weird Things staff loves all kinds of science, but we hold a special place in our heart for “weird science”, which is exactly what astronomers from the University of Alberta are saying is going on inside the neutron star Cassiopeia A. Astronomer Craig Heinke’s team has found that this neutron star contains a core of superfluid, a friction-less liquid that could seemingly defy the laws of gravity. The astronomers started researching the star after a sudden temperature drop and they determined that the temperature drop was due to the fact that its core transformed into a superfluid and is venting heat in the process.

“If you could put some of this superfluid in a jar it would flow up the walls of the container and over the edge,” said Heinke.

[Physorg]