Weird Universe Archive
November 2012
November 11, 2012
Rocky & Bullwinkle: “Sex on Planet X”
[Click to enlarge]
I've been reliving my youthful TV watching by streaming episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle on Netflix. I certainly catch a lot more of the jokes than I did when I was in elementary school.
And in the screen shot above, you'll see a risque easter egg I encountered in Episode 5.
Anyone else have similar favorite moments from the media?
Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 11, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Aliens, Sexuality, Television, Cartoons, 1950s, Parody, Pranks
Mysterious Symbols: what do they mean?
The answer is below in extended.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 11, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Quizzes
November 10, 2012
1970s Youth Documentary
If the clothes and talk and scenes in this film do not send you on a magical mystery tour, your next hit of acid is free!
PS: that guy in the first few minutes with the WASP fro and beard-no-stache and glasses--I have pictures of myself looking exactly like that!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 10, 2012 -
Comments (10)
Category: Education, Fads, Fashion, Juvenile Delinquency, Teenagers, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1970s
November 9, 2012
Mystery Gadget 14
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 09, 2012 -
Comments (10)
Category: Technology, 1920s
Urine Flavor Wheels
Urine Flavor Wheels were once a standard tool used by doctors. Doctors would either sniff or taste a patient's urine to make a diagnosis. But by the 19th Century, urine tasting had fallen out of favor, replaced by the use of various chemical tests. Though some doctors resisted the change, believing that the taste test yielded more information than any chemical analysis could. More info at ediblegeography.com.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 09, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Medicine, Body Fluids
November 8, 2012
Feeling Like a Rat
Rats use whiskers to feel around in the dark. They navigate by "whisking" — moving their whiskers rapidly back and forth. Humans, however, don't have whiskers. But could people learn to navigate in the dark using artificial whiskers? That was the question posed by a recent experiment published in the Journal of Neuroscience.The researchers attached plastic whiskers to the fingers (not the cheeks, unfortunately) of blindfolded volunteers. These volunteers were then asked to try to identify the relative position of several poles on either side of them. The researchers discovered that the volunteers skill at this task improved significantly over time. So they were learning to use whiskers just as a rat would. The practical value of all this is that the researchers hope to develop finger whiskers for blind people.
Incidentally, if you read the abstract of the experiment, you would never know it had anything to do with rats and whiskers. The researchers describe their experiment as a study of "motor-sensory interactions in humans using a novel object localization task that enabled monitoring the relevant overt motor and sensory variables."
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 08, 2012 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Science, Experiments
DIY Railroading
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 08, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: Hobbies and DIY, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Inventions, Technology, Wild West and US Frontier, Transportation
November 7, 2012
Life and Death
Pregnancy tests can confirm new life, but it turns out they can also warn of something deadly as well. A Reddit user, or his friend, found a pregnancy test that was left behind by an ex. He took it as a lark and got a positive result. Upon seeing the post about it several of the site's commenters warned that the hormone that causes a positive test for a pregnant woman is also produced by testicular cancer tumors. This resulted in the man who took the test getting treatment for his early stage testicular cancer. Lucky guy to find out right away like that. The internet has many uses and a few of them have nothing at all to do with porn, who knew?!
Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 07, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Health
The Return of Weird Postcards
[Click on any of them to enlarge.]
I bought these just yesterday at Raven Used Books in Northampton, MA. Hundreds more awaiting your visitation.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 07, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: Humor, Outsider Art, Twentieth Century, Postal Services
November 6, 2012
Korean-speaking Elephant
Koshik the elephant has taught himself to imitate the words of his Korean trainers. He can say five words: "annyong" ("hello"), "anja" ("sit down"), "aniya" ("no"), "nuo" ("lie down"), and "choah" ("good"). He does this by sticking his trunk in his mouth. [eurekalert]My parents had a welsh terrier who would say "Out" whenever he wanted to go out. Though the way he said it was more like "Oooouuuuuuuttttttt." He would only make the sound when he wanted to go out, and if you said the word 'out' he would go nuts, because he knew what it meant.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 06, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Languages
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction books such as Elephants on Acid. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
