Created by a couple of artists who were interested in the ‘unobserved’ moments of sound that go on in places like stairwells, hallways and, unfortunately for commuters witnessing the bizarre sight of this freaking thing, subways.

Filled with a mixture that is half oxygen, half helium (“balloonium”), the weirdly unsettling, 3 foot nylon sphere floats around recording ambient audio which it then replays on a delay of about twenty minutes.

Although it was meant to be a completely innocent object you can’t shake the feeling watching it cruise around that this thing is part of some Cronenbergian horror film and that the ‘innocent’ floating black sphere wandering the world whispering ghost-like conversations of the past is about to shed its nylon skin and reveal its real purpose.

Says one of its creators:

“A lot of people do interpret it as this sinister moving presence that’s following people around.”

Might be because of all the design choices that could’ve happened like a cute kitten or a doe-eyed baby animal or even the Teenage Mutant Turtles in an awesome group shot you chose a creepy, opaque ball that slowly floats around whispering voices.

[WIRED]

Disney is continually developing things that will make us hand over a substantial amount of cash to play in their parks.

Recently the Disney Research Hub’s YouTube Channel dropped a video showing something called PixelBots.

As entertainment in the real world becomes more interactive due to the public’s insatiable appetite for new experiences, companies like Disney continue to push into new areas of the interactive experience.

What will Disney be using these lemming-like little ‘bots for? Hard to say.

We’ll let you all role-play the part of an Imagineer in the comments.

[DisneyResearchHub YouTube Channel]

There’s always that one house on your street.

You know…the one that looks like the sun is continuously exploding each night during December?

In China that person is a 60 year-old farmer who:

A. Is a HUGE fan of the space shuttle

B. A little eccentric.

C. Knows something about the future of mankind that we don’t.

Either way it’s pretty amazing and there’s probably of a lot of secretly jealous homeowners reading this right now.

[Technabob]

Jamie and Bubba (sometimes reality just seems too good to be true) Stock of Texas are claiming they’ve caught a chupacabra or, as we’ve come to endearingly call them on this podcast, ‘Chupy‘.

While most chupacabras are referred to as vicious goat-suckers that attack livestock and occasionally people, the photo of the alleged creature must be the exception to the rule…

Unless its disarmingly ‘please love me’ face is a ruse to get closer to its next human victim.

Why do they believe it’s one of the elusive cryptids?

Because when Jamie Stock came to look at the creature that Bubba had captured she identified it right away:

“Bubba that looks like a baby chupacabra.”

Furthermore, “the Bubba’s” neighbor stated:

“I hunted racoons for 20 years with dogs and I ain’t ever seen anything that looks like that right there.”

So there you have it.

Based on all the evidence and the expert testimonials? A Texas family has captured a chupacabra

Please say you’re getting the sarcasm.

[Independent UK]

Scientists have been trying to find the elusive combination of instructions that would cause stems cells to become an actual living thing.

That elusive secret just ran out of places to hide.

University researchers were able to cause cells to grow into an entire animal!

The result of all this is that there’s now a baby zebra fish embryo in the world that was created completely from stem cells by scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Absorb that for a minute.

While this discovery is HUGE and of immeasurable value to the creation of organs for those who need them, there’ll probably be some backlash from torch bearers and wielders of pitchforks who want to march across the U of V campus lawn.

It sounds like something straight out of the past few decades of science fiction stories…

Especially when one of the scientists drops a line like:

“We have generated an animal by just instructing embryonic cells the right way…” and “…we can pretty much do what we want.”

They’re growing mice next.

And then?

Probably us.

(cue lightning)

[PhysOrg]

Since who-knows-when, people have been trying to recreate the smells of places and things. Because of our emotional ties to the way things smell, like your favorite grandmother’s perfume, companies around the world have been trying to create things that produce those scents on command. It’s a powerful selling tool. Theme parks regularly use ‘scent cannons’ to manipulate you into buying food or enhancing their artificial environments.

Now a company is producing a much smaller version of these ‘scent cannons’ that attaches to the audio jack of your smartphone. Using the company’s app your phone can now basically fart on command.

Sure it’s more of a novelty than anything right now because the attached devices can’t produce just any smell on command (they only produce one scent like a home air freshener) it doesn’t mean that eventually science won’t allow us to create ANY scent using just one device.

Science keeps trying to make it happen and eventually, just like everything else, it will.

For now you’ll have to settle for your smartphone either looking like it’s passing gas or that you can now embarrassingly appear to be ‘vaping’ through your phone.

[AWEtv YouTube Channel]

Cult indoctrination seemed to be the trendy demon scourge out to nab your children in the late 80s and early 90s. Dubbed ‘Satanic Panic’, groups like David Koresh’s Branch Davidians and early mentions of Heaven’s Gate as well as other cult groups seemed to be part of the daily news diet of the day.

To protect the innocent there was also a rise in protective groups, articles, information and books.

One of those books is called “Don’t Make Me Go Back, Mommy” written by Doris Sanford and illustrated by Graci Evans.

And it’s the most terrifying children’s book you’ll ever read.

Here’s the synopsis of the story directly from the back cover of the book (which now sells anywhere from $155 to $220):

“When five-year-old Allison’s parents begin to see a change in her behavior at home, they seek professional help for her. They find that Allison and other children have been ritually abused at a day care center. Thus begins Allison’s recovery through counseling and through her parents’ affirmations that it was not her fault, that she is precious and loved, and they will keep her safe.”

It’s not just the words that’ll make you stare at this thing with wide-eyed horror. The illustrations like the one with the child lying next to a dead rabbit will probably become the groundwork for your future nightmares.

You might want to mentally floss with some Curious George or Clifford the Big Red Dog after reading this.

[VigilantCitizen.com]

As the mechanical components that make up robotic prosthetics shrink, they’re integrating more easily into the lives of those that need them.

Drummer Jason Barnes built his own crude drumming hand but, after meeting an engineer who felt he could create something much more, Barnes now sports a pretty incredible robo-drumming arm. Using a technique called electromyography, the device responds to electrical signals as Barnes flexes his bicep. A secondary attachment for another drumstick was added that actually listens to what Barnes is playing and responds by playing along with what it’s hearing!

Giving talented people like Jason Barnes the ability to continue doing what they love and what they’re talented at is a fantastic way to get physically challenged people back to what they do best…

n this case it’s also the heralding of a whole new future for band battles.
[New Scientist]

The video pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this awesome kid who’s decided to become a tween man of science instead of chasing skirts or worrying about pimples.

We’re putting this little bit of text down here to let tell you to listen all the way to the end to hear about his NEXT project…

[Gizmodo]

An artist in India has produced over 1,000 paintings. While other ‘fancy’ artists around the world all seem to rely on that simple and outdated tool called the brush, this particular artist is getting back to basics by painting with his tongue.

And before you watch the video, you’ll probably laugh and conjure up images of child-like paintings like a square house, smiling stick figures holding hands and a few upside-down w-birds.

You’d be wrong.

He’s painted an 8-foot image of the Last Supper with his tongue.

The artist in question, Ani K, has also tried painting with his feet, nose and chin before he finally decided on his tongue as his utensil of choice. After completing a painting, he claims to suffer two weeks worth of pain in his jaw, headaches and blurriness of vision.

Ani is also on a mission to paint his way into the Guiness Book of World Records…

By painting four individual paintings at the same time using both hands and both feet.

Should be easy for a guy that once painted while riding a bike.

But still not as creepy as another artist we’ve posted about who used his own blood.

In what’s probably the cheesiest way to show this incredible feat off, HeliGraphix, a company that specializes in aerial photography using RC helicopters, has posted a video of something that we’ve all probably kinda thought, “…if only…”.

Using two appropriately named copters called H.U.L.C.s (Heavy Ultra-Lifter Cranes), Heligraphix took one brightly dressed woman who dances like your mom trying to be sexy in front of your friends and lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing! Seriously. These are RC helicopters and you wouldn’t think this would even be feasible.

But a lot of things…a lot of things that once lived only in our adolescent, pretend-I’m-a-spy imaginations…just became very, very feasible but it looks effortless!

[Heligraphix YouTube Channel]

Any time you mention the word ‘reindeer’ most people conjure up a fond memories of Rankin/Bass Christmas specials from their childhood, sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or just freak out because you just reminded them they’re only three shopping days left until Christmas.

Unless, of course, you live in Finland….

Where you’ll probably have nightmares about eerily glowing reindeers who wander the forests at night.

Every year in Finland, almost 4,000 potential sleigh-pulling reindeer are struck by motorists. In order to protect these animals and save Christmas, the Finnish Reindeer Herders Association (yep…it’s a thing) has come up with an idea that will probably result in more motorist crashes when drivers try to avoid killing what looks like a ghost-demon reindeer.

By painting the reindeer’s antlers with reflective paint, the Finnish Reindeer Herders Association is hoping to keep the mayhem to a minimum next year. They’re currently just splashing the reflective tape on the animals’ fur to test the theory while Canada, who’s suffering similar issues, simply wants to paint some reflective lines on the road and maybe put up a sign saying, “SLOW DOWN OR YOU’LL PROBABLY KILL A REINDEER!”

We’re looking forward to posting stories about people who do NOT know this is going on in the wilds of Finland and post stories to the internet about “Satan’s Reindeer”, “Reindeer Ghosts of Christmas” or the conspiracy stories that Nikola Tesla once developed a freaky form of reindeer that channels electricity through its eye-holes and antlers.

No…really…look at that picture up there…eight of those, and one with who-knows-what coming out of its nose, will be on your roof in a couple of months.

[Smithsonian.com]

Currently making the rounds is some CCTV camera footage from a bar in Bristol called Ye Olde Man and Scythe. The bar has been around since 1251.

On Valentine’s Day of this year, something showed up on the bar’s security camera. Most are immediately shouting “OMG! GHOST!”

The jury is still out on what this might be. Our bets are that it’s either a couple of seconds of footage dropped from GXSHT’s video for Black Camaro or a tease for Paranormal Activity 7? 8? 9?

What do YOU think is going on here? Is this the spirit of someone from the beyond or just someone doing a wrestler’s stroll into a bar?

[YouTube]

Authorities in a small town in Nigeria responded to tips that a local hotel had added something new to their menu.

After bursting into the restaurant…

“…they arrested four men, six women and the hotel’s owner. In addition, they discovered at least two blood-soaked human heads wrapped in cellophane, two army caps, two AK-47 rifles and a small quantity of ammunition. The heads have yet to be identified.”

Information about how long the hotel’s been serving as Hannibal Lector’s fave Nigerian B&B, how many people have ended up on the menu and how extensive the network supplying the hotel actually is have yet to be determined.

For the morbidly curious among you (yep…we’re aware you’re out there):

Heads went for around $45, hands and legs about $20 and ‘man parts’? Around $6.

We just keep shaking our heads and hearing the last line of the Eagles’ song Hotel California playing over and over…

“You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave.”

[Liberty Voice]

WARNING: IF YOU’RE SQUEAMISH ABOUT ANIMALS EATING ANIMALS AND BEING CUT OPEN TO REVEAL EATEN ANIMALS? Netflix has My Little Pony and you should probably play some of those instead of the above video.

While we all worry about robots taking over our planet, snakes are quietly learning to fly, take over large land masses, moving in and nesting in our homes and now?

They’re swallowing man’s best friends…whole.

Locals in Cuiaba, Brazil spotted a ridiculously large snake with with a grotesquely distended stomach…so they investigated….and shot video of the ‘investigation’.

2ND WARNING: This video ain’t for the squeamish.

Everyone else? Hit that play button.
[I09]

In May of 2013 during a geophysics survey along the Coast of Norfolk in England, researchers stumbled across what might be the oldest
evidence of human life in the region…footprints.

While skeptical at first, archaeologists have been doing extensive testing of dozens of foot-like indentations in a sediment layer that’s been
revealed by the tide and erosion in the area (similar to the discovery of a possible pyramid we talk about in the latest episode of the Weird Things podcast).

Scientists took photos of the indentations from every angle in order to create a 3D model that they could use to determine whether these odd
hollows in the sediment were, in fact, footprints or, perhaps, something else.

Almost a year later and with lots of careful analysis, researchers are agreeing that these are footprints left by what appears to be “…at least two
children and one adult male.” Researchers are estimating that these prints date back between 800,000 to 1 million years ago.

[I09]