Science & Technology – Page 21 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Guest Blogger

BILLBOARD USES LIVE BACTERIA TO PROMOTE MOVIE!

This was a pretty genius idea, using live bacteria and mold to slowly form the name of the movie, execution is fantastic as well!

The Montreal Gazette writes:

Two billboards made from live bacteria mounted in an abandoned storefront window in downtown Toronto are giving a whole new meaning to the term “viral marketing.”

A team of scientists created the one-of-a-kind advertisements to promote director Steven Soderbergh’s film Contagion, in theatres Sept. 9, starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The living billboards, sure to leave germaphobes itching for hand sanitizer, were the brainchild of Mark Biernacki and Steph Mackie, the creative director duo of Lowe Roche advertising agency in Toronto.

“We wanted something that would have visual impact,” explained Mackie.

Building on the film’s plot, which follows the spread of a fast-moving and lethal airborne virus that kills within mere days, Biernacki and Mackie teamed up with U.K.-based CURB Media to transform their idea into a microbe-infused reality.

PIG BORN WITH 2 WORKING SNOUTS!

Incredible! This little guy has 2 working snouts with teeth and all and is actually healthy. Glad to hear this little dude is making it because, as we know all to well here at The Museum Of The Weird where we have a number of animal displays, most born with deformities don’t last long.

The Daily Mail writes:

Meet Babe, the pig who was born with not one but two snouts. And while it might sound like a joke, it’s no laughing matter.

The two-month-old – part of a litter born on a farm in Deshengtang, Jilin province, northern China – can use both his mouths to eat and appears otherwise normal, say his owners.

Farmer Li Zhenjun and his wife Yu Wanfen named the piglet Xiaobao – or ‘Babe’ in English – after the movie about an extraordinary talking pig.

Babe being held by his owner, Yu Wanfen.

GIGANTIC CROCODILE CAUGHT ALIVE!

Holy cow! That entire village could fit inside this thing? Glad they were able to get it out of the waters around their village before anything serious happened.

Yahoo News writes:

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Villagers and veteran hunters have captured a one-ton saltwater crocodile which they plan to make the star of a planned ecotourism park in a southern Philippine town, an official said Monday.

Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said dozens of villagers and experts ensnared the 21-foot (6.4-meter) male crocodile along a creek in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province after a three-week hunt. It could be one of the largest crocodiles to be captured alive in recent years, he said, quoting local crocodile experts.

Elorde said the crocodile killed a water buffalo in an attack witnessed by villagers last month and was also suspected of having attacked a fisherman who went missing in July.

He said he sought the help of experts at a crocodile farm in western Palawan province.

“We were nervous but it’s our duty to deal with a threat to the villagers,” Elorde told The Associated Press by telephone. “When I finally stood before it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

After initial sightings at a creek, the hunters set four traps, which the crocodile destroyed. They then used sturdier traps using steel cables, one of which finally caught the enormous reptile late Saturday, he said.

“ALIEN PIG” BORN JUST AFTER UFO SIGHTING!

Now that’s a face only a mother could love! But, who’s the father? Is it another pig or is daddy an alien? This is definitely weird considering the UFO sighting was THE VERY SAME EVENING IT WAS BORN! This baby pig looks pretty similar to the cyclops-baby pig we have on display here at the Museum Of The Weird.

Come check it out!

Metro Online writes:

Residents of the South American village have decided that the pig’s odd human-shaped head is the doing of visitors from outer space, after strange bright lights were spotted hovering in the sky on the night of its birth.

The pig’s head looks similar to that of a human (CEN)

The poor pig, which is one of a litter of 11, has been described as looking like a cross between a human and something from the Alien movies.

Farmer Laureano Escobar Arias said: ‘I was shocked – it was a really terrifying experience.

‘It looked like some kind of alien creature.’

NEW HIGH QUALITY BIGFOOT EVIDENCE!

Wow! Just, wow! I cannot wait for this full-fledged Bigfoot documentary to come out!

The Calgary Sun writes:

If nothing else, the news is bound to make big strides with the Banff tourism industry.

No longer will Alberta’s best-known mountain park depend solely on breathtaking scenery and abundant wildlife to impress visitors and lure overseas tourists.

And no more envy towards other famous vacation spots like Loch Ness and Lake Okanagan, where legendary creatures are rumoured to lurk.

Banff now has Bigfoot. Lots and lots of Bigfoots, in fact.

Yes, it’s an allegation that would have Ripley wondering whether to Believe it or Not, and P.T. Barnum reaching for his cheque book, but the mountains west of Calgary are a hotbed for the huge-footed primates.

That’s the assertion of a dedicated bigfoot research organization based near Calgary, which claims not only to have video and photo evidence of the mythical beast, but DNA proof as well.

HUGE CHILD-SIZE FROG FOUND IN MALAYSIA!

What an amazing find! Too bad it was EATEN!

io9 writes:

When you’ve discovered a 20-kilogram frog with the legs the length of a seven-year-old child’s, do you A.) keep it for posterity; B.) donate it to science; or C.) eat the sonofagun before it eats you?

For one giant-frog-finder, the answer was clearly “C.” A man from the town of Gemencheh in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan claims this is a cellphone photo of giant frog caught by a local Orang Asli man.

GARDENER IMPALES HIS FACE W/ SHEARS AND LIVES!

How crazy is this?! This man impales himself through the eye-socket with pruning shears and lives to talk about it!

MSNBC writes:

TUCSON, Ariz. — An 86-year-old Arizona man is expected to make a full recovery after being impaled through his eye socket with pruning shears.

University Medical Center said Monday that Leroy Luetscher of Green Valley was working in his yard on July 30 when he dropped a pair of pruning shears, which landed point-side down in the ground.

When Luetscher went to pick them up, he lost his balance and fell face-down on the handle.

The handle penetrated his eye socket and went down into his neck, resting on the external carotid artery.

“You wouldn’t believe your eyes,” trauma surgeon Dr. Julie Wynne said in a statement. “Half of the pruning shears was sticking out and the other half was in his head.”

WORLDS OLDEST PERSON TURNS 115!

This is just incredible! Can you imagine living basically TWO lifetimes?

The Telegraph writes:

Besse Cooper’s birthday celebrations were held at her residence in Monroe, Georgia – although this year, unlike last, there was no Elvis impersonator at the party.

A researcher from Guinness Book of World Records was on hand at Mrs Cooper’s birthday party to deliver the Tennessee native her second plaque that certifies her as the oldest person on the planet.

“We thought one was enough,” said her son, Sidney Cooper, 76.

“She still remembers things and thinks clearly and talks.

“But she has her good days and her bad days. I’d say she sleeps about 80 per cent of the time.”

1ST EVER ANIMAL W/ ARTIFICIAL DNA!

Everyday we take just one step closer to being gods.

Today is no exception.

The BBC writes:

Researchers say they have created the first ever animal with artificial information in its genetic code.

The technique, they say, could give biologists “atom-by-atom control” over the molecules in living organisms.

One expert the BBC spoke to agrees, saying the technique would be seized upon by “the entire biology community”.

The work by a Cambridge team, which used nematode worms, appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The worms – from the species Caenorhabditis elegans – are 1mm long, with just a thousand cells in their transparent bodies.

What makes the newly created animals different is that their genetic code has been extended to create biological molecules not known in the natural world.

MYSTERIOUS RUMBLINGS BENEATH ONTARIO!

Mysterious tremors shaking houses and disrupting sleep in Ontario have everyone baffled, with only one man trying to figure it out.

The Montreal Gazette writes:

WINDSOR — For months, residents of south and west Windsor have been wondering and worrying about vibrations of unknown origin.

And now, those mysterious rumblings under the city have found a new believer — the city’s Ward 10 Coun. Al Maghnieh, who says it’s time to start taking the phenomenon seriously.

“It’s very present and real,” he said.

Maghnieh added that those who think the phenomenon is a joke or that its proponents are “crazy” need to grasp the implications in terms of health and the environment.

“I mean, it’s actually scary to think that this is going on and we still can’t pinpoint what it is,” he said.

“This is potentially very dangerous.”