TWS139: My Other Costume Is A Delurian

PROMOS: Trolljammies.blogspot.com, Imagination Lane’s Giselle, Jim Ryan (of The Great Debate, Every World News & jimyesthatjim.com)

CQ: They say that "clothes make the man". If that’s so, can we not recreate ourselves by changing our costumes, become new people by changing the roles we play. Can we not game the universe? And if so, what does our character sheet look like?

RIP Mac Tonnies, future-thinker, reality-questioner, rising star.

On the show this week:

• We all wear costumes
• Ghosts have no substance, Yeti’s a hairy mess
• Animal Bites Man(Kind)
• The Cauldron bubbleth over..

Full list of 110 articles after the jump!

• We all wear costumes:
  • If we can study her genome, can we start introducing cat-people into the world? Please?: The UK Sun – ‘Cat-girl’ illness baffles doctors
  • The trick to her smile is that her smile is a trick.: New Scientist – Mona Lisa’s smile a mystery no more
  • Don’t worry: no actual faeries were harmed in the making of this item. Although, it *does* put the idea into your head for when you next see one..: The Art of Darkness/The Shadow manor – Tutorial: Mummified Fairy
  • Now, with real Flesh-Rotting ™ action!: The UK Telegraph – Neighbours thought dead man’s body was Halloween display
  • If she was using a violin bow, I’d run scared, too..: Ananova – Woman plays dog to scare burglar
  • Even if he *is* all in our minds, isn’t that fascinating nonetheless?: Ananova – Dream man is a mystery
  • Sounds more like it was left to bigfoots (bigfeet?).: Homer Tribune – Port Chatham left to spirits
  • I wonder if that will cause the ghosts to act up..: The UK Telegraph – Britian’s most haunted village ‘cancels Halloween’
  • (EXTRA) Sometimes, costumes really backfire.: ABC Australia – Parents to face charges over balloon boy hoax
  • It’s just extreme LARPing — I’m sure they were in on it..: The UK Telegraph – KFC’s Colonel Sanders tricks his way into UN to pose for ‘official’ photo
  • I’m sure it was the Twinkie test. (Thanks Geek Survival Guide!): Salon/AP – Man ordering food called a zombie, punched twice
  • Not only was there booze involved, there probably wasn’t even any candy on the line.. FAIL: Metro – Worst disguise ever? Burglars cover faces with permanent marker
  • (EXTRA) The guy killed him in broad daylight for being a vampire. IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. *sigh* FAIL: The Australian – $1m reward offered in vampire case
  • Some people’s costumes are their entire homes.: The UK Telegraph – Man turns his Hampshire council flat into ‘a replica Palace of Versailles’
  • (EXTRA) Sometimes we confuse our costumes for reality.: BBC – Bracelets ‘useless’ in arthritis
  • If you are going to dress like a ghostbuster, you might as well *be* a ghostbuster.: The Current – Tools of the ghostly persuasion used to find spooks, goblins, and ghosts
  • (EXTRA) Jack the Ripper wore his own mask, and then may have written that mask on paper.: BBC – Doubts over Ripper ‘memoirs’ find
  • When you join an organization, you take on its symbology, sometimes wearing that costume more heavily and seriously than others.: The Scotsman – Mystery stone found near church linked to Knights Templar
• Ghosts have no substance, Yeti’s a hairy mess:
  • Normally, I consider those who work on frightrides to be immune to the spooks..: The Sun – Ouija believe it
  • One wonders what wonders are buried beneath the sea; next stop: Rly’eh!: The Astigan – World’s oldest known submerged town
  • Sure, they *say* it’s just for historical understanding, but I’ve seen the movies, read the stories.. Immortality is an undying pursuit..: MSNBC/Discovery Channel – Leg mummified with ancient Egyptian recipe
  • The question is: will they sell ads on the sides of the pages? How about a virtual 3D coffin-side visit?: IEEE Spectrum – Funeral Webcasting Is Alive and Well
  • Is the demonstration that you can duplicate the effects of a ghost prove anything about actual ghost sightings?: New Scientist – Where do ghosts come from?
  • Just because it’s not real doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have real effects.: ABC Australia – Phantom limbs make impossible moves
  • It all boils down to “it’s all in their heads”, doesn’t it?: Science Blog – “Haunted People” Potentially Explained: A Mind-Body Basis for Anomalous Perceptions
  • (EXTRA) I just hope he’s ready for the responsibility of growing up to be a superhero..: Ananova – ‘Superboy’ is an online smash
  • Mention of the Rhine Institute, which is now little more than a memory (or perhaps a persistent illusion).: The Herald Sun – Taking a scientific approach to spooky
  • An example of how the notion of asking people about things rather than dismissing what cannot be measured has some merit.: Cryptomundo – Bulletin! Cryptozoology Is Being Used By Scientists
  • Sir Edmund Hillary once set out to find the Yeti — or maybe he was like many so-called skeptics, with his mind already made up negatively..: Cryptomundo – Hillary Tried To Kill The Yeti
  • Loren Coleman gets doubly upset with the misuse of the term “chupacabras”.: Cryptomundo – “Texas Chupacabras” Goes on Exhibit
  • (EXTRA) The flip side of the witch hysteria in Africa are those who claim to be terrible creatures.: Modern Ghana/The Spectator – Girl’s confession stuns worshippers
  • (EXTRA) Someday, we’ll either get rid of all religions, or totally redefine the meaning of religion. I rather like the latter idea, myself.: Workforce Management – Observance of Wiccan New Year Ends in Religious Discrimination Suit
  • (EXTRA) How is it that this movement persists? What is its goal? I doubt that it is altruistic, I doubt that it is even genuine. So how? And why?: BBC – Scientologists convicted of fraud
  • History, like all propoganda, is frought with bias..: The Australian – Philistines got bad press from Israelites, says Melbourne academic
  • “Hoax” is a little strong, but the suggestion that it is merely a miscalculation makes me think the hysteria will continue until 2020 at least.: Phenomenica/ANI – 2012 doomsday prediction nothing but a hoax
  • (EXTRA) I have a disturbing feeling that there is a hoax of skin sensitivity + someone writing on the child.: The UK Telegraph – Koran verses ‘appear’ on skin of miracle Russian baby
  • (EXTRA) The ultimate in WYSIWYG? If I give consideration to werewolves, yeti and aliens, why not miracles? (Well, despite my athiest leanings, I mean..): The UK Telegraph – ‘Miracle’ as communion wafer becomes heart tissue
  • While explanations abound, none of them address the fact that it is only feet found..: CBC – Human remains in shoe found near Vancouver
  • Math’s ability to reduce large numbers to small handles always impresses me; it’s only an estimate, of course.: MIT Technology Review/arXiv – Physicists Calculate Number of Universes in the Multiverse
• Animal Bites Man(Kind):
  • (EXTRA) I mean, where *did* you think bugs go for the winter? Toronto, of course!: National Geographic National Post – Ladybugs invade Toronto — but don’t squish ‘em!
  • (EXTRA) While it is a very creepy title, I can’t think that this is a reliable source of nutrition..: Blogsquatcher Boing Boing – Bees That Drink Human Tears
  • (EXTRA) Ok, now I want to find the thing in the natural world that will fix eBooks..: LiveScience – Sea Creature’s Amazing Eyes Could Inspire New DVD Players
  • (EXTRA) Wait.. butterflies have “ears”?: ScienceDaily – Hearing On The Wing: New Structure Discovered In Butterfly Ears
  • (EXTRA) Next: the Bigfoot hamster.: ScienceDaily – Ancient ‘Monster’ Insect: ‘Unicorn’ Fly Never Before Observed
  • (EXTRA) Snakes On A Plane have now made flying impossible..: The UK Telegraph – Flight cancelled after passenger sees tarantula
  • (EXTRA) … Or maybe we have some sort of conspiracy?: The UK Telegraph – Mouse grounds plane at New York’s JFK
  • (EXTRA) Just goes to show that news is all about distortion and faking your perceptions.. (Ouch! Zing!) : The UK Telegraph – Seagull invades Australian news bulletin
  • (EXTRA) Usually, they are caught sneaking *out*..: The UK Telegraph – Deer sneaks into a hotel
  • (EXTRA) Surprisingly, the bear did not use ice skates, totally violating its spy training.: The UK Telegraph – Ice-skating bear from Russia kills circus director in Kyrgyzstan
  • (EXTRA) Don’t bother me, I’ve off to pick off kids at soccer practice..: Metro – Hungry bears love minivans, says study
  • (EXTRA) That’s ridiculous! Bears look nothing like cars, and cars never stole anything!: The UK Telegraph – Bear mistaken for car thief in Colorado
  • (EXTRA) Ah, nothing like an insect invasion to remind you of the season’s change.: ABC Australia – Bogong tour 09 takes over Parliament House
  • (EXTRA) I believe this is one of the signs of the apocalypse, as predicted by the prophet Venkman..: Ananova – Cat and dog share childcare
  • (EXTRA) Although, instead of “take me to your leader”, it just sorta said “blub”.: Stuff/The Timaru Herald – Mystery lump on beach mistaken for alien
  • (EXTRA) There’s always something bigger.. until you get to Cthulhu. (Well, maybe Nyarlathotep is bigger, and then there are the higher-dimensional beings that can’t actually be measured by any rational system..): The UK Daily Mail – Great White nearly bit in half by an even BIGGER monster: Swimmers stay out of the water after warning over giant 20ft shark
  • (EXTRA) Hey, some pretty stockings will bring out *my* sex drive, too.. Although not if I’m wearing them..: New Scientist – Dangling stockings reveal whales’ sex drive
  • (EXTRA) That sucks.: STV/Reuters – Australian robber pleads guilty after leech provides DNA
  • Turns out, its no branch of our tree. Eve is back on top. I smell conspiracy..: BBC – Primate fossil ‘not an ancestor’
  • (EXTRA) Would it be alright if they were throwing them into the power cells?: The UK Telegraph – New Zealand town cancels rabbit-throwing contest
  • I want the sticker: “this house runs on BUNNY POWER!”.: BBC – Swedes divided over bunny biofuel
• The Cauldron bubbleth over..:
  • (EXTRA) I can’t imagine working at McDonald’s any longer than you really have to. I wonder if the survivor gets compensation (as long as it’s not free Happy Meals..).: ABC Australia – McDonald’s staffer worked to death
  • (EXTRA) This is really saying “We have no idea how to give them a priori knowledge, so we’ll just let it happen.” It is a defeat more than a progressive view, IMHO.: STV – Robots to ‘learn’ sense of touch
  • (EXTRA) Some things are sacred rights. I happen to think that the occasional nude cuppa keeps you level and STOP LOOKING IN MY WINDOW!: The UK Telegraph – Man arrested for making coffee in own home while naked
  • (EXTRA) I seem to recall that this is a different day each year, often ones which precede or follow weekends..: Ananova – The most unproductive day of the year
  • (EXTRA) This is also a lot like saying you inherit your penmanship because your fingers and spine layout are determined genetically..: ScienceDaily – Bad Driving May Have Genetic Basis, Study Finds
  • (EXTRA) They kinda shocked me, too..: Ananova – Giant breasts shock China
  • (EXTRA) “We’re sorry, but we’ve outsourced your job to the INTERNET.”: Ananova – Paperboy made redundant
  • Once these become full screens, we can experience acid trips (like the picture shows) without taking anything except the bill..: New Scientist – Living wallpaper that devices can relate to
  • (EXTRA) Turns out, if we actually just stopped being so nice and keep to a schedule, all the buses would run on time. But can’t we design a system that *promotes* niceness, not works at odds with it?: New Scientist – Why three buses come at once, and how to avoid it
  • (EXTRA) This really speaks to the simplicity at the base of so many modern marvels, rather than any sort of malicious or frivlolous activity that needs to be cracked down on.: Ananova – Schoolboy’s TV aerial disrupted airport
  • (EXTRA) Surprisingly, “Did I leave the basement light on?” is *not* among them..: New Scientist – Seven questions that keep physicists up at night
  • (EXTRA) I had no idea that mini-golf really had *rules*, let alone world competitions.: The UK Telegraph – Nutters with putters: crazy golfers vie for world title
  • (EXTRA) So: pray, prey, flee?: The UK Telegraph – Video: Gunman prays with bank clerk, hugs her, then robs her
  • (EXTRA) Experiments in trying to figure out subjective time — and whether it is more a trick of memory than perception..: New Scientist – Timewarp: How your brain creates the fourth dimension
  • (EXTRA) She should probably learn how to harness her power for the force of good — and how to harness her neck as well..: Metro – Woman broke her back just by sneezing
  • (EXTRA) The trials are over: we now have created this thing. Let’s try to create blue people next!: BBC – My love is like a blue, blue rose
  • (EXTRA) It’s one of those urban legends that just happens to be true..: Ananova – Postbox not emptied for five years
  • (EXTRA) It’s always strange to me that people are surprised at how much biology influences our rational mind.: ScienceDaily – Evolutionary Past May Determine How We Choose Leaders
  • (EXTRA) There is so much odd with this idea, and yet it also makes a certain kind of perfect sense..: The UK Telegraph – Indian engineer ‘builds’ new glaciers to stop global warming
  • (EXTRA) A holdover of an earlier article, in which we were momentarily excited to see the moon again.: ScienceDaily – How The Moon Produces Its Own Water
  • (EXTRA) Never attribute to forethought and planning that can be explained by impartial habit and inherited trait..: ScienceDaily – Trees Facilitate Wildfires As A Way To Protect Their Habitat
  • (EXTRA) Some say that the moon up here began out there..: Discovery – Controversial Moon Origin Theory Rewrites History
  • (EXTRA) What may be the coolest pasttime I’ve heard of all month: recreating Mad Max for fun.: Ananova – Living life to the Max
  • (EXTRA) Is there something cosmologically inconsistent in our very own solar system?: CBC – ‘Ribbon’ found at edge of solar system
  • (EXTRA) Some consider the moon to be sacred; others just find it holey.: New Scientist – Found: first ‘skylight’ on the moon
  • (EXTRA) I would think that the largest problem in Mars communication was that there is no one there to talk to..: STV – Researchers find way round Mars communication problem
  • (EXTRA) Amongst the other things to be tested, such as: time travel, the Higgs-Boson, black holes, where the socks go in the dryer, etc.: MIT Technology Review – Hyperdrive Propulsion Could Be Tested at the Large Hadron Collider
  • (EXTRA) I think this has official jumped the shark for planetary discovery. *Yawn* Wake me when they’ve found some actually *interesting* planets.: STV/Reuters – European scientists find trawl of 32 new planets
  • (EXTRA) Back when “protection” meant having the rest of the tribe looking our for giant monsters.: The UK Times – Neanderthals “had sex” with modern man
  • (EXTRA) I really sometimes wish I lived in a country in which this could happen.: The UK Telegraph – Replica of English church built on 21st floor of Japanese tower block
  • (EXTRA) He’s actually doing it to be fractal, by placing it in a larger model. If that sits in a train station, I wonder if the entire planet is a simulation, too..: The UK Telegraph – World’s smallest working model train set unveiled
  • (EXTRA) A real-world example that not all programmers really are paid to think ahead.: The UK Telegraph – Man with “XXXXXXX” number plate receives parking fines for every unidentified car in city
  • (EXTRA) Some stories fall off the table; others bounce.: Ananova – World’s biggest rubber band ball
  • (EXTRA) While you can sorta say it was “unintentional”, after a while don’t you go “clink”?: The UK Telegraph – Woman swallows 78 items of cutlery
  • (EXTRA) Why worry? This is the best egg basket we have! (It just happens to be the only one we have, but that’s irrelevant… right?): New Scientist – Asteroid blast reveals holes in Earth’s defences
  • (EXTRA) A sad reminder that in some parts of the world, the accusation of witch carries more than just derision and scorn.: BBC – Village ‘witches’ beaten in India
  • (EXTRA) It becomes less difficult to understand why some people react very badly and with fear toward those that might be associated with the supernatural.: The Australian – ‘Demon worshipper’ kills four
  • (EXTRA) I’m pretty sure this skews a whole lotta averages..: BBC – Somali man, ’112′, weds girl, 17
  • (EXTRA) This may be sending the wrong message..: BBC – Guns given to Somali quiz winners
  • (EXTRA) This is *definitely* sending the wrong message.: BBC – Albino victim evicted from safe-house
  • (EXTRA) Was the Bible the original dirty book? There *was* a whole lotta “begatting” going on!: The UK Telegraph – Biblical sex row over explicit illustrated Book of Genesis
  • (EXTRA) Not sure why anyone is waiting until their death to spill the beans about Der Führer..: BBC – Secrets hope as Hitler aide dies
  • (EXTRA) This is sending the right message, but the wrong way.: Bangkok Post – Ambassadors outraged by Hitler billboard on Pattaya highway
  • (EXTRA) Where there’s a will, there’s a weigh.: CBS News/AP – Too Fat To Kill? Fla. Man Uses Weight As A Defense
  • (EXTRA) A gross miscarriage of justice! Or at least, a terrible abuse of a pun!: Ananova – Man cleared of kicking bucket
  • (EXTRA) CSI: Thailand.. or maybe it’s closer to Bones, complete with Hollywood haircut..: The Christian Science Monitor – This Thai crime investigator is no friend to the ‘big shots’
  • (EXTRA) One of those priceless pictures, and also proof of modern idiocy.: The UK Telegraph – Pictured: Man tries to smuggle 14 pythons into Norway by taping them to his body
  • (EXTRA) Insert munchie joke here.: Metro – Smuggled cannabis sausage rolls uncovered in chill box
  • (EXTRA) If we find “Hadrian’s Comfy Chair” we have the full set.: Discovery On/AP – “Hadrian’s Auditorium” Found in Rome
  • (EXTRA) It’s apparently rare to find these sorts of things, what with the slash and burn travel policy and the crucifixion tours..: MSNBC/AP – Experts find rare Crusader-era murals in Syria

 

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