Weekly Weird News – Page 53 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Guest Blogger

SPACEX LAUNCHES US INTO A ‘NEW FUTURE’ ON THEIR FIRST MISSION

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule. Image courtesy of SpaceX.

“That’s one small step for [a] man, and one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong

Those words spoken years ago marked a big change in the world, not only did we put man into space, we put a man on the moon. Well, here’s another giant leap in the form of the first entirely privately funded company to reach space with the intention of docking a capsule of supplies, experiments, and one day astronauts with the ISS(International Space Station). Before this, only large governments were able to pool the funds together to begin exploring space, but interests have waned, as we’ve seen with NASA ending it’s shuttle program. This marks the first of hopefully many successful ventures from private organizations to explore, study, and experiment in space.

See the video below for some beautiful footage of the rocket launch on May 22, 2012.

NASA writes:

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into space and delivered a Dragon cargo capsule into orbit on May 22, 2012. The launch began an ambitious mission to show that the company is ready to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.

“We’re now back on the brink of a new future, a future that embraces the innovation the private sector brings to the table,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “The significance of this day cannot be overstated. While there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are off to a good start.”

Working with an instantaneous launch window, SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif., proceeded through a flawless countdown. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 3:44 a.m. EDT, just as the station was crossing 249 miles above the North Atlantic.

“Every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that moment,” said Elon Musk about the moment the rocket lifted off the pad. Musk is the founder, CEO and chief designer of SpaceX. “People were really giving it their all. For us, it was like winning the Super Bowl.”

SCIENTISTS GENERATE ELECTRICITY FROM A VIRUS

Scientists can now generate electricity from viruses!

The world of nano-technology is growing exponentially fast and with it, come a slew of amazing breakthroughs. This one for example, is pretty fascinating.

Scientists have used the principle called “piezoelectricity” or, the use of pressure and vibrations to generate energy, to create enough electricity to power a small lcd screen from a small virus similar to the one found in our bodies when we have the common cold.

Mother Nature Network writes:

When people get a cold or the flu, they tend to experience a lack of energy. But what if viruses could actually generate energy — not to power your body, but to charge your electronic devices?

That’s the idea behind a new electric generator developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The scientists coated a postage-stamp-sized electrode with specially engineered, harmless viruses that, when tapped, generated enough electricity to power a small LCD display. Their research was published online May 13 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

THE FAMOUS ‘EASTER ISLAND HEADS’ HAVE BODIES

Who knew the Heads of Easter Island had entire bodies? On second thought, how did they not know?

Ever heard the phrase “dig a little deeper”?

Well apparently, throughout the hundreds of people that have visited, investigated, done research at, and along with the thousands of whom saw pictures of the famous ‘Heads of Easter Island’, no one thought about that little old phrase, until now.

Fox News writes:

New photographs reveal what lies beneath the surface of Easter Island, one of the most remote places in the world — the carved bodies of the island’s 887 famous guardians.

Most people think of the 63-square-mile Pacific island’s silent stone sentinels as simple heads. But the heads all have bodies — and a backstory that’s only now being pieced together, explained Jo Anne Van Tilburg, director of the Easter Island Statue Project.

“Those statues which are the most photographed are standing in the quarry. They’re buried up to mid-torso level. So it’s understandable that the general public didn’t have a clue that those statues had bodies,” she told FoxNews.com.

Current belief is that the statues were carved between A.D.1100 up until the 1800s, when an influx of Westerners transformed the culture. Van Tilburg, a fellow with The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, has only been coming to Easter Island (called Rapa Nui) to do research for twenty years, since 1992. But she first came more than thirty years ago — and stayed for one clear reason. “I fell in love with the statues,” she said simply.

“I came to Easter Island in 1981. I was impressed with the number of statues and that they seemed accessible to me, they were on the surface. I wanted to know what was below the surface.”

First Van Tilburg documented the island’s statues and those that have been removed to museums; there are 887 inventoried, though she says the number is closer to 1,000. Then she began the next phase of work to reveal what lay beneath the ground — covered up not intentionally by men, but through centuries of exposure to the environment.

That process has taken 12 years so far, and may take a lifetime of work.

UFO ALMOST CAUSES PLANE CRASH OVER DENVER

A UFO caused some trouble over the skies of the Denver airport the other day, when an airplane flying at 8,000 feet was buzzed by an unidentified aircraft flying in the opposite direction that looked like it had no pilot!

The pilot of the observing plane said it may have been remotely controlled, though it seems it was traveling far too fast for him to get any proper visual, and the darn thing didn’t even show up on radar for officials to investigate. How bizarre!

9 News of Denver writes:

DENVER – The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a mystery in the sky. A mysterious object flying over Denver nearly caused a mid-air collision Monday evening, 9Wants to Know has learned.

As far as investigators know, the mystery object did not show up on radar Monday.

Investigators believe this object, whatever it is, could pose a serious safety hazard to planes.

Radio transmissions from LiveATC.net confirm a nervous-sounding pilot reported a strange object at 5:17 p.m. Monday.

The pilot is heard telling air traffic control: “A remote controlled aircraft, or what? Something just went by the other way … About 20 to 30 seconds ago. It was like a large remote-controlled aircraft.”

The corporate jet, a Cessna Citation 525 CJ1, was flying at 8,000 feet above sea level over Cherry Creek when the mystery object came close enough to make any pilot nervous.

MAN IS VICTIM OF UNUSUAL ‘SECONDARY-DROWNING’

Man dies in a rare and unusual case of secondary drowning.

Tommy Molla of Yonkers, New York, thought he made it safely out of the water after almost drowning this past Saturday, but it would seem the water didn’t make it safely out of him.

ABC News writes:

A 60-year-old man fell into New York’s Long Island Sound, pulled himself out — and then died several hours later, apparently of drowning. Emergency doctors today called it a case of secondary drowning, something very unusual.

The man, Tommy Mollo of Yonkers, N.Y., fell off the back of a friend’s boat Saturday morning while helping move it between slips at a marina in nearby New Rochelle, WABC-TV reported. Mollo returned to his apartment and told his wife he felt ill. She called 911 and emergency workers took Mollo to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m., the station reported.

An ER doctor told the station that water got into Mollo’s lungs when he fell overboard, which led to subsequent breathing difficulties that could have been exacerbated by medical issues he already had.

Mollo’s case represents a rare occurrence of a relatively rare phenomenon, beginning with his self-rescue, emergency room doctors said.

MYSTERY TRIBE LEAVES BEHIND BODY-FILLED JARS

Human remains nside a log coffin at Phnom Pel. Photograph courtesy Nancy Beavan

A research team has been uncovering burial sights of a mysterious tribe that vanished a long time ago, since 2003. Even though they found up to 10 such spots in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia, some with humans remains that date back almost 4,000 years, there’s still little information on the ones who left the creepy, bone-filled jars made from wood, behind.

National Geographic writes:

Perched in some cases on precarious cliff ledges, centuries-old log coffins—such as this one, pictured alongside researcher Nancy Beavan—and “body jars” are the only known traces of an unknown Cambodian tribe. Now new dating studies are beginning to assure the unnamed culture a place in history.

Ten such burial spots have been found in the Cardamom Mountains since 2003, and at least one is at least 160 feet high (50 meters)—the intention apparently being that “anyone trying to disturb the burials would break their neck,” said Beavan, who led the new study.

Beavan’s team has radiocarbon-dated wood, teeth, and bones from four of the sites to between A.D. 1395 and 1650, placing them smack-dab in the decline of the Khmer Empire, based in Angkor. However it’s unclear what, if any, influence the empire had on these mountain people, said Beavan, of the University of Otago’s Department of Anatomy in New Zealand. “Until now, experts had no idea when the sites had been established or how long they’d been in use.”

Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Guest Blogger

WOMAN EATS AN ‘EARTHY’ DIET, OF ROCKS!

Teresa Widener, 45, eats rocks off the ground.

A woman from Bedford, Virginia who enjoys eating rocks, was recently featured on an episode of 20/20 delving into the world of medical mysteries.

Teresa Widener, who by all accounts is an average, healthy 45 year old woman, has a not-so-healthy habit.

Daily Mail writes:

A woman has told of how she eats rocks that have been picked up off the ground.

For more than 20 years, Teresa Widener, a 45-year-old woman from Bedford, Virginia, has regularly sucked the dirt off rocks before crunching them between her teeth.

The mother of two, who works with special needs children, suffers from pica which is a disorder that causes people to eat inedible objects.

She told ABC that she has been able to break rocks in her mouth ‘pretty easily’ for more than 20 years.

‘I like that it has an earthy flavour’, she said. ‘If I know I have some at my house I feel better, just knowing they’re there…they’re there for me when I’m upset or whatever.

‘Mmm-hmm, yeah. They crunch on my teeth.’

Sometimes, she neglects to wash the natural objects because she craves the dirt that is attached to them.

NEW TV SHOW LOOKING FOR WEIRD AND UNIQUE HOMES

A new show is coming out soon and is looking for weird, strange, and unique homes to feature on television.

Do you have a unique home or maybe know someone who does?

If so, click the link below to head on over the AMS Website where you’ll find all the info and contact information to submit.

From the AMS Pictures website:

Home Strange Home

Join our host, Chuck Nice, as he explores some of the most structurally fabulous, uniquely decorated and just downright strange homes in America!

Each one-hour episode of Home, Strange Home will showcase the most unique and breathtakingly beautiful homes our country has to offer. You’ll see homes of all shapes and sizes, from houses that spin to off-the-grid abodes, as we travel across America to meet home owners who threw conventionalism to the wind to build a one-of-a-kind creation.

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Guest Blogger

NASA FINDS OLD SPACECRAFT ON THE MOON

NASA has found the crash site of its' very own spacecraft from the early 60s.

Located by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is currently scanning and mapping the surface of the moon, the picture below shows the site of where the old lunar module was intentionally downed once it’s mission of finding a suitable area for the Apollo and Surveyor missions was finished.

Discovery writes:

NASA scientists have found the crash site, pictured above, of a spacecraft set into orbit during the early 60s. This one–thankfully–is not crawling with Decepticons. They believe it is the missing Lunar Orbiter 2which disappeared back in 1967 during a passage over the far side of the moon, when the craft went out of telescope and radio range.

Lunar Orbit 2′s primary function was documenting areas of the moon that would be most hospitable to the Apollo and Surveyor missions. During its run, it returned a total of 609 high resolution images and 208 medium-sized frames. This includes the Copernicus crater which is considered by many to be the Picture of the Century.

While the spacecraft was intentionally downed on October 11, 1967, scientists had yet to find the crash site–til now.

The wreckage is thought to have been located by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which is currently mapping the lunar surface in unprecedented detail. During its mission so far, the spacecraft has gathered more than 192 terabytes of data; that’s nearly 41,000 DVDs worth of data, images and maps! One of its key findings is our solar system’s coldest spot: a crater near the moon’s north pole was recorded at minus 415 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr!

ANGEL, ALIEN, OR CGI?

A new video has been circulating recently that claims to be evidence of an angel, or possibly an alien, making a quick stop down on Earth, then flying away in an instant. It all happens pretty quick and was caught on a security camera nearby, even a few people ran over to inspect where the thing had landed. Is this footage of something we’ve never seen before, or another person trying to pass off a fake video as the real deal?

What do you think this video shows?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDubUuplR5g

The Huffington Post writes:

Is it the work of a holy being, or a homely prankster?

A security video taken on Sept. 11 last year — reportedly at the Cilandak Town Square in Jakarta, Indonesia — appears to show what YouTubers describe as an“angel-like spirit” flying into view and leaving in a burst of light seconds later.

People with flashlights then storm the area where the winged being appeared, seemingly to investigate the strange occurrence.

Some are saying that the video shows an angel — others think the “humanoid” figure might be a visit from another dimension.

“You can see the pulsating. … I think it’s an extraterrestrial,” says the narrator ofanother YouTube video who dissected the images.

United Press International is reporting this week that the video could be a hoax, basing its findings on YouTube comments.

“First of all, we have one static picture, on which picture of alleged ‘light being’ is mounted,” the news site quoted a commenter as saying. “Nothing in that lobby moves except it. And then suddenly, after it disappears, we see a man in lower right quadrant of video who is walking by, who has suddenly appeared in almost middle of frame, coming from nowhere, apparently un-baffled by appearance of huge winged light creature in front of his undisplayed path. And creature illuminated entire floor of that building. Eh.”