Boy Survives Meteorite Strike

A meteorite hit Gerrit Blank in the hand, leaving a three inch scar. He said "it knocked me flying" and then made a one foot crater in the earth. The blinding flash was his only warning, which was followed by "an enormous bang like a crash of thunder." The schoolboy said the noise made his ears ring for hours afterward.



The pea-sized meteorite has been found to be magnetic, and chemical tests verify it has fallen from space.

Here's the link to the original story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5511619/14-year-old-hit-by-30000-mph-space-meteorite.html

Posted By: gdanea - Sat Jul 04, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Injuries

Weird Florida: Inglis

The Town of Inglis is famous for 2 things: It was the filming location for the Elvis movie Follow That Dream, and in 2001 the Mayor officially banned Satan.(Chuck may have covered this already, I haven't had time to look through his archives)

Posted By: fyshstyxx - Sat Jul 04, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, Government, Law, Movies, Politics

Naim Süleymanoğlu: The Pocket Hercules

This weightlifter from Turkey stands only 4 feet 10 inches tall, but can lift more than 3 times his bodyweight over his head.

Posted By: fyshstyxx - Sat Jul 04, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Exercise and Fitness, Human Marvels

Banksy Exhibit

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 04, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Museums, Europe

Happy Fourth of July!

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 04, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category:

The Weird Sisters

P J Harvey and Bjork onstage together is almost the definition of a weirdness black hole.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 04, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Music, Women

Sneaky Snakes

It's hard enough to catch a bite to eat when your prey consists of relatively quick moving land animals. But when you're dealing with tiny, lightning fast fish, what can you do to improve your odds that you'll get a meal? Turn yourself into a tentacled water snake. Scientists at Vanderbilt University used high-speed video to capture images of the snake performing an unusual trick in order to force prey to swim directly into its mouth. The snake will lie motionless, its body in a "J" shape, and wait for prey to swim close. When a fish swims by the curve of the "J", the snake flexes the lower part of its body. The fish senses the movement and turns to swim away from the perceived threat... only to end up directly in the snake's mouth. You can see the slow motion video here. And you can read all about the study here.

Posted By: Nethie - Fri Jul 03, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Food, Nature, Science

Car Tossing

When too much time meets a creative imagination.



At the end, watch for the firebomb.

Posted By: gdanea - Fri Jul 03, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Flight

Weird Britannia!

Time to point our telescopes of weirdness at "the old country", methinks.

Speaking of old, recent research carried out by the University of Michigan has revealed that US seniors are smarter than their UK counterparts. The study, lead in the US by Kenneth Langa, measured the recall abilities of over 8000 elderly Americans and over 5000 elderly Brits, and found that the yanks scored 1.4 more on the memory tests, out of a possible 24. Langa suggests that part of the difference was due to higher average levels of education and income in the US group, and higher levels of depression in the UK sample, but points out that nothing is certain at the moment. "It's like a view from 30,000 feet" said Langa (New Scientist).

And it's not just British brains that are shrinking, the UK's sheep are getting smaller as well. Because of a trend towards milder weather believed to be due to climate change, Sheep on the Outer Hebridean island of Soay are getting smaller at the rate of 100g/year, say researchers from Imperial College, London. Though it might seem that warmer winters and a greater abundance of food might make for bigger sheep, Tim Coulson, the professor leading the study, points out that fewer weaker and smaller lambs will die over winter, bringing down the average size (Telegraph).

Now, in some good news, UK campaigners have won a second victory in a three-year battle... to bring back a chocolate bar. The "Wispa Bar", made by European confectioners Cadbury, was introduced in 1995 along with a caramel laced version called the "Wispa Gold", only for both to be discontinued in 2003. This prompted some die-hard fans of the bubbly chocolate bar to start a petition to have it go into production again, resulting in a "limited edition" run of the original Wispa last year. When the 40 million bars produced sold out in just 18 weeks, Cadbury decided to relaunch the brand. Not satisfied with just one bar, campaigners have kept up the pressure, causing Cadbury to start producing Wispa Golds "for a limited period," as before. However to some commentators, this latest move looks more like slick PR than grassroots victory (Sky News).



More in extended >>

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Fri Jul 03, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Food, Candy, Law, Judges, Nature, Weather, Political Correctness, Religion, Products

North Korean Beer Commercial

Benny-Hill-stye music, women with barely an inch of flesh showing-- The North Koreans have a lot to learn!

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 03, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Asia, Alcohol