Boy Weeps Blood
Saturday, December 18th, 2010Calvino Inman weeps blood. TLC is airing a documentary this month called The Boy With Bloody Tears about Calvino and this medical mystery.
Archive for December, 2010
Authorities Hunt For Cause Of Chilean Pyrokinesis [WeirdThingsTV]
Saturday, December 18th, 2010Podcast: Baby Panda Terror
Friday, December 17th, 2010
We complete the epic adventure of Spiro & The Fudge when our law enforcement tandem attempts to utilize their keen detective skills and uncomfortably close relationship in solving a murderous mystery in mob-controlled Italy. Brian tries to outsmart a pack of wild pandas, and fails. Andrew recommends a new complimentary IKEA service: severed animal heads.
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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings120910PART2.mp3
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Clusterwink Snails Use Bioluminescent Shell-Flashing Defense
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Located off the eastern coast of Australia, the clusterwink snail (Hinea brasiliana) uses a luminescent shell-flashing defense when its shell is tapped or when it detects predators nearby. Scientists think that this could either be a technique for attracting predators of the predator or perhaps a trick to scare them away. Recent experiments have shown that some crabs are frightened away by bioluminescent glowing creatures.
“When threatened, fingernail-sized H. brasiliana generates pulses of bioluminescent light from a single spot on its mushy body. The light pulses are variable, lasting as short as 1/50th of a second to as long as a few seconds. But the opaque shell diffuses only the blue-green color of light it generates — and no other color — like a highly selective frosted light bulb.”
[Wired]
China’s UFO Launching Pyramid
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
It’s a pyramid. In China.
Wait, it gets weirder.
It’s on top of a mountain and is not (as far as researchers can tell) a burial tomb for a royal dynasty. In fact, local legend has it that the elevated platform has been used as a UFO launching ground.
Nine scientists form the team that will travel to the western province of Qinghai and the mouth of this 165-198 foot tall structure known as the “ET Relics.”
“The pyramid has three caves with openings shaped like triangles on its façade and is filled with red-hued pipes leading into the mountain and a nearby salt water lake,” says China’s state-run Xinhua agency.
To add to the mystery, iron debris and unusually shaped stones are scattered about the desolate area.
“The theory that the pyramid was created by extra terrestrials is “understandable and worth looking into…but scientific means must be employed to prove whether or not it is true,” says Yang Ji, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
More information on the pyramids of China can be found in this handy YouTube clip.
Could A Stolen Yeti Paw, Skull Come Home For Christmas? [WeirdThingsTV]
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010Listen to the WeirdThings Podcast gang talk about this story as well!
Chernobyl To Open For Vacationers
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Bound to be the hottest tourist spot next year, the 30-mile radius surrounding Chernobyl is set to open for day trips starting next year. While “illegal” tours already operate in the zone, these new tours will be government sanctioned.“The Chernobyl zone isn’t as scary as the whole world thinks,” ministry spokesperson Yulia Yurshova told The Wall Street Journal. “We want to work with big tour operators and attract Western tourists, from whom there’s great demand.”
Start saving now.
Horrifying Video Of A Botfly Maggot Ripping From The Flesh Of Delighted Professor
Monday, December 13th, 2010No words.
Transparent Marine Specimens
Monday, December 13th, 2010
New World Transparent Specimens offers marine creatures from the Japanese artist Iori Tomita that are transparent with colored bones. Using a method that involves the dissolution of natural proteins Tomita adds red dye to hard bones and blue dye to soft bones.
At this point it seems that the collection is limited to marine creatures only.
Is There A Planet of Diamonds?
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
Scientists claim that the planet Wasp-12b has such a high carbon-to-oxygen ratio that the planet may literally be littered with diamonds and the core of the planet could have diamonds as well. It is the first carbon-rich planet observed and actually has more carbon than oxygen.The lead researcher specifies: “You might see land masses and mountains made up of diamonds.”
The surface temperature is a warm 4199 Fahrenheit so the diamonds might be a little hot to the touch.
[Gizmodo]
See It, Shoot It, Share It
Friday, December 10th, 2010
Look alive, Morgan City. Seriously though, what in the world is this?
[io9]
Podcast: Officer Fudge’s Mystery Package of Death
Friday, December 10th, 2010
In the first of a two part episode we’re introduced to the macho cop alter egos of Brian and Justin. Brian eats up NASA’s arsenic announcement despite Andrew and Justin telling him why he shouldn’t. Then we all learn a valuable holiday lesson when Brian touches someone’s package and nearly dies.
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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings120910PART1.mp3
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Proof Found That Giant Storks Ate Hobbits [WeirdThingsTV]
Friday, December 10th, 2010Solar Powered Hornets!
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Scientists have recently discovered that the exoskeleton of the oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) contains special structures that trap sunlight and convert it to energy. Using an atomic force microscope they discovered that the yellow band on the abdomen was structurally different than the rest of their body.This is made from a series of oval-shaped protrusions, each containing a pinhole-sized depression. Each protrusion is just 50nm tall and interlocks with another…Essentially, say the researchers, they stop light being reflected off the hornet’s body. Instead the light is trapped, and harvested for energy.
[TreeHugger via Gizmodo]
Croatia Planning Moon Landing in 2012
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
The Croatian Astronomical Society Vidulini is planning on putting a rover on the moon by the end of 2012 near where Apollo 17 last landed in 1972. The rover is called Histrohod and will only cost 20,000 Euros to build. The Astronomical Society Vidulini created the first Croatian space program (Astronautika) and is also part of team “Synergy Moon” which is participating in the Google Lunar X Prize contest.Through a group of mobile devices, “Histrohod” will send televised segments down to Earth. This is a big challenge for our society and we are extremely proud that our association and our small Istria will become a part of space exploration,” said the Society’s president Marino Rumpic
Fully-Automized Robot Debones Ham
Monday, December 6th, 2010Sure, let’s invent a robot that utilizes the sophisticated technology necessary to artfully carve up a soft meat like a ham. Great idea.
When the streets are littered with the cleanly picked skeletons of the resistance, let me know how much you enjoyed your dinner.