Archive for December, 2006
Saturday, December 16th, 2006
Climate Change Has Animals Heading for the Hills
Chipmunks, mice and squirrels are heading for the hills, perhaps chased to higher elevations by a changing climate, scientists report.Since the early 1900s, small mammals in California have shifted their ranges dramatically, mostly to higher elevations.
Scientists compared modern notes with those of past museum director Joseph Grinnell, who investigated the diversity of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds along what he called the Yosemite Transect. With this information, scientists retraced this work, and documented with traps and photos the small mammals in this area that spans portions of the San Joaquin Valley, the Sierra Nevada, including parts of Yosemite National Park.
Posted in Animal Weirdness, End of the World Update | No Comments »
Saturday, December 16th, 2006
Comet observations upend scientists’ beliefs
Detailed observations from the first comet samples returned to Earth are debunking some of science’s long-held beliefs on how the icy, celestial bodies form.Scientists expected the minute grains retrieved from a comet Wild 2 to be made up mostly of interstellar dust — tiny particles that flow through the solar system thought to be from ancient stars that exploded and died.
Instead, they found an unusual mix of primordial material as if the solar system had turned itself inside out. Hot particles from the inner solar system migrated out to the cold, outer fringes beyond Pluto where they intermingled and congealed to form a comet.
Posted in Space | No Comments »
Saturday, December 16th, 2006
Kansas Dad Accused of Running Dryer With Kids Inside
Two children have been removed from their home after a man reportedly ran a clothes dryer with the toddlers inside. A 3-year-old boy was treated for second-degree burns, but a 2-year-old girl was not injured after the Nov. 28 incident, the Reno County district attorney’s office said.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Researchers demonstrate direct brain control of humanoid robot:
A classic science-fiction scene shows a person wearing a metal skullcap with electrodes sticking out to detect the person’s thoughts. Another sci-fi movie standard depicts robots doing humans’ bidding. Now the two are combined, and in real life: University of Washington researchers can control the movement of a humanoid robot with signals from a human brain.
Posted in Mad Scientists | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Swedish Christmas goat survives attack
Vandals tried to set fire to a giant straw goat in central Sweden but failed to burn down the traditional Christmas monument, which has been soaked with flame-resistant chemicals, officials said Friday.
The overnight raid was the season’s first attack on the 43-foot-high Christmas goat in the city of Gavle, 90 miles north of Stockholm. The goat has been burned down more than 20 times in the last 40 years in what has become a yule tradition.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
POL $MOKED N.Y. FOR 423G
State Sen. Efrain Gonzalez ripped off $423,000 in grant money earmarked for a Bronx kids’ charity – and frittered away the cash on luxury digs, clothes, jewelry and even personalized cigar labels, an indictment says.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality, Politico Follies | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Arctic Summers Ice Free by 2040, Study Predicts:
Summers in the Arctic Ocean may be ice free by 2040—decades earlier than previously expected, according to a new study of the effects of global warming on sea ice. The scenario is predicted by computer models that assume greenhouse gas emissions will continue unabated.
Posted in End of the World Update | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Wisconsin Hunter Bags Deer With 7 Legs
Rick Lisko hunts deer with a bow but got his most unusual one driving his truck down his mile-long driveway. The young buck had nub antlers _ and seven legs. Lisko said it also had both male and female reproductive organs. “It was definitely a freak of nature,” Lisko said. “I guess it’s a real rarity.”
Posted in Animal Weirdness | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Big man, little dolphin
Bao Xishun, the world’s tallest man, saved the lives of two dolphins in north eastern China, by reaching down their throats to take plastic out of their stomach.
Posted in Animal Weirdness, Human Oddities | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Hunt on for killer elephant Laden:
Rangers in India’s Assam state have issued a shoot-on-sight order on a killer rogue elephant named after al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Laden has trampled 14 people to death in the past six months in the north-eastern state, officials say. The order came after the rogue bull killed a woman on Wednesday. So far he has eluded hunters.
Hat tip to Parky!
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Vodka will get you every time!
A drunk company director was in court today after passing out on a railway track in the afternoon rush hour. Kevin Craswell, 48, consumed a “lethal” amount of vodka and was seen by passengers at 3.30pm crawling along the railway at Epsom. Astonishing pictures show him asleep and using the rail as a pillow. Witnesses even said they could hear him snoring from the platform.
Posted in Fun with Alcohol | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
‘Chess murders’ Russian charged
A Russian who reportedly said he wanted to kill 64 people to correspond with the squares on a chess board has been charged in Moscow with 49 murders. Alexander Pichushkin is suspected of being the “Bitsyevskiy maniac”, named after the park where 14 of the victims’ bodies were found. He has allegedly confessed to killing 62 people over six years and reportedly said he had missed his goal.
Posted in Concentrated Criminality | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
So, what’s your sign? You crash here often?
Never mind how careful you are behind the wheel or how long you’ve been driving, the signs of the zodiac may be bigger factors behind your ability to avoid car crashes — or why you have too many. According to a study by InsuranceHotline.com, a Web site that quotes drivers on insurance rates, astrological signs are a significant factor in predicting car accidents.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
If you are like me, you LOVE to drink on long flights, but are annoyed by the cheapo, awkwardly shaped, crappy plastic cups used to serve it. Thank God for this: an Aussie vintner uncorks bottle-cup combo:
“Wine connoisseurs have long had a reputation of being a bit snooty. But apparently many of them are also incredibly lazy, as an Australian winemaker has developed a single-serving bottle that comes with its own glass.
The all-in-one plastic wine bottle and cup has been produced by Australia’s Hardy Wine Company, the country’s largest vintner.”
Posted in Fun with Alcohol | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Student Accused Of Putting Bodily Fluids In Food
A student at Wheaton North High School is accused in a vulgar case of food tampering. Police say he put his bodily fluid into salad dressing in the school cafeteria. CBS 2 news partner The Naperville Sun had the tip on the story. CBS 2’s West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports a letter is going home to parents warning about the possible health hazard.
Posted in Teen Antics | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Fake news sparks outrage
A fake news bulletin that Belgium was to split sparked outrage in both halves of the country on Thursday, although the television station responsible provoked a debate about the nation’s future. “Irresponsible,” “questionable” and “regrettable” were among the reactions from Belgium’s political mainstream in both French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders after a fictional report that Flanders had declared independence.
More can be found here.
Posted in Doh! | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Passengers fly into a panic over mice
The screams were louder than the roar of the engines when more than 100 passengers on board a Saudi plane fought off an invasion by 80 stowaways: mice.
Posted in Animal Rebellion Update | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Who needs a heart when you have a continuous flow pump?
A 65-year-old Quebec man who received a new long-term mechanical heart last month is being described as the only living Canadian without a pulse. Dr. Renzo Cecere implanted the “Heartmate II” mechanical heart into Gerard Langevin in an three-hour operation Nov. 23. Officials at the McGill University Health Centre say the device, which is about the size of a flashlight battery, could last up to 10 years.
Posted in Medical Monstrosities | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
It was a typical week for pirate activity, with 7 incidents, including:
07.12.2006 0300 UTC in position 06:08.41N – 001:17.43E, Lome port, Togo. Four robbers armed with knives and bars boarded a bulk carrier at berth waiting for cargo operations. They threatened three duty crew who ran towards accommodation and raised alarm. Robbers stole ship’s stores and jumped overboard and escaped towards nearby fishing boat. Local authorities informed.
Posted in Pirate Update | No Comments »
Friday, December 15th, 2006
Their secret having been exposed, Nazi Gingerbread Men flee:
An artist who was forced to remove his Nazi gingerbread men from the window of a hardware store has set up the display in an empty storefront in another town. “The Secret Lives of Gingerbread Men” depicts a small gathering at a Nazi rally. Keith McGuckin set up the display in this northeastern Ohio city Thursday night, a day before the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah begins at sundown.
Posted in Nazis | No Comments »
Thursday, December 14th, 2006
Dear Friends,
My apologies for the delay in blogging. As you may be aware, I have had grievous problems since Blogger decided to “upgrade” their systems. The net result is that I’ve been unable to blog anything for the last week. I am therefore bailing out and switching to WordPress. Unfortunately, I am unable to migrate all my old postings to the new blog (despite multiple attempts), so please go here to see all the 4000+ previous weird news stories that I’ve posted this year.
Thanks for all your patience! I will now resume blogging as usual, once I figure out this WordPress thing.
karl
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
