TWS148: Life, when you think about it, is Fundamentally Twisted
Bumper: Jim Ryan from Every World News
Promo: Every World News
Promo: Technorama
CQ: Human lives are largely structured as follows: you learn when you are young and then you do when you are old. We abandon most structured learning once we hit the workforce, only occasionally returning to it from time to time. Should we try to structure our lives so that periodically — say, every decade or so — we re-enter a structured learning environment for a year?
On the show this week:
- The Front Page
- Twisted Body of Work
- Body of Twisted Work
- Body Work of Twisted Extras
Full list of 75 articles after the jump!
- The Front Page:
- Model Rocket? Meteor launch? Missile? Screetch gone terribly wrong?: CBC – UFO sighting puzzles N.L. residents
- Well, mostly they are just saying “we don’t know, but it can’t be bad.”: CBC – DND, RCMP mum on UFO mystery
- New Zealand joins the international movement to provide out-of-date, editted or highly underwhelming UFO documents..: Stuff/The Press – UFO papers to be made public
- When the government no longer carries the UFO bureau, we can now turn to the highly trusted, completely unbiased newspaper like.. The Sun?: The Sun – Liffey on Mars
- As if aurora weren’t weird enough, finding what looks like a Star Trek space station outlined in one is just… awesome! 😉: DiscoveryNews – Aurora Mystery Solved?
- Or maybe not. It’s kinda a crapshoot, and you don’t get to see the dice. : The UK Guardian – Aliens visiting Earth will be just like humans, scientist claims
- That first conversation is going to be pretty awkward; I suggest we use jokes.: New Scientist – Exolanguage: do you speak alien?
- We’ve met the aliens… and they are us?: Yahoo!/AP – Channeling your inner alien? Maybe, scientists say
- Wait.. If we’ve got better chances to see them now, why turn away?: The UK Daily Mail – Our chance of finding alien life is greater than ever, says Britain’s top astronomer
- The suggestion is that we need to turn inward, focus on what’s here on Earth, not look in space.. But why not do both?: The Times – Royal Society meet to discuss if extra-terrestrials are here on Earth
- Basically, aliens will look like aliens look like, which is like us (maybe) or not like us (maybe). Stunning..: New Scientist – The face of first contact: What aliens look like
- Aliens *might* look like this.. Then again, so can decayed humans.. Right?: WPIX – Body With ‘Very Long’ Fingers Discovered On Plum Island
- (EXTRA) The problem with those on the side of the possibility of UFOs is that the side includes a lot of people who you’d rather not have on your side..: Herald Tribune/De Void – Full disclosure: I quit
- Twisted Body of Work:
- If you ask me, I don’t think we’re prepared for the next crisis event any better than we were for that one..: Scientific American – Endangered Species: Humans Might Have Faced Extinction 1 Million Years Ago
- Only the adorable shall survive! (Oh wait.. I’m screwed..): ScienceDaily – ‘Survival of the Cutest’ Proves Darwin Right
- And when they say “horizontal evolution”, it is not a metaphor for sex — in fact, it’s exactly *not* sex. At all. Or mutation. More like forming clubs..: New Scientist – Horizontal and vertical: The evolution of evolution
- Hopefully, it’s the better half..: New Scientist – I, virus: Why you’re only half human
- They write this as if it is a bad thing. Next: knives and forks changed the way we eat! Abandon all silverware!: LiveScience – Running Shoes Changed How Humans Run
- (EXTRA) I think slime may just be the Universal Computer..: ScienceDaily – Slime Design Mimics Tokyo’s Rail System
- There is a dance involved here that seems as wonderfully complex as… any complex system.: ScienceDaily – In Sync: Squid, Glowing Companions March in Genetic Harmony
- (EXTRA) Ah, nothing like our long-standing “innocuous” medications..: ABC News – Extreme Acetaminophen Reaction: Woman Takes Pill, Loses Skin
- (EXTRA) It’s funny how much we are confusing things these days.. We have finally grown tired of all our boundaries, and seek to remove them all. The future will be.. fascinating!: STV/BangShowBiz – Second man pregnant
- I listen to all my inner voices, but we mostly just argue..: Yahoo!/Reuters – Many children ‘hear voices’; most aren’t bothered
- At this point, I think that all people who have zero or more hands are prone to mental issues..: MSNBC/LiveScience – Ambidextrous kids more prone to mental issues
- I am repulsed, curious and deeply reflective all at the same time..: Geekologie – Body Modification: A Window For Your Lip
- (EXTRA) The real surprise was the discovery that the stone slate magazines were out of date, even in the Neolithic era!: The UK Telegraph – Stone Age amputee proves Neolithic medics more advanced than previously thought
- (EXTRA) Funny little tadpole humans might very well be well-adapted to the well-established, historical environment? Imagine that.. (sarcasm): LiveScience – Embryos Like to Be Rocked Like Babies
- (EXTRA) How long before you get designer farms, with creatures from whichever era you like?: The UK Telegraph – Giant cattle to be bred back from extinction
- (EXTRA) There’s a really bad joke there, but I don’t do standup for long..: Yahoo!/Reuters – Pork better for sex than Viagra?
- (EXTRA) Poppycock! Everyone *knows* that the past was in black and white!: National Geographic – Dinosaur True Colors Revealed for First Time
- (EXTRA) At this point, I think everything is a myth… But by the time this sentence rolls around, I’ve forgotten that..: The UK Telegraph – Three-second fish memory ‘a myth’
- (EXTRA) If it works, let them go. If not, hold them up to ridicule. For the sake of the locals in Haiti, I hope it works..: Breitbart/AFP – Scientologists ‘heal’ Haiti quake victims using touch
- (EXTRA) Just because there are multiple mechanisms for echolocation doesn’t mean that bats and dolphins might not coincidentally use the same one, does it?: BBC – ‘Echoes’ in bat and dolphin DNA
- Body of Twisted Work:
- Some people will not be satisfied until all people are dissatisfied, methinks..: Ananova – Robot to take over Groundhog Day?
- (EXTRA) Funny: no temples to *robot* cats have been found, eh?: BBC – Temple to cat god found in Egypt
- And, quoth the Raven: “Nevermore!” (Sorry..): Yahoo!/AP – Mystery visitor to Poe’s grave is a no-show
- (EXTRA) I continue to find evidence of my theory that history is expanding out behind us, and getting bigger every day..: DiscoveryOn/Reuters – Huge Mayan head found in Guatemala
- I bet that he was buried with even more diagrams, notes and a wicked grin..: The UK Telegraph – Leonardo Da Vinci’s remains to be exhumed amid Mona Lisa self-portrait mystery
- (EXTRA) Ah! So *that’s* what dark energy is made of: bitterness and broken dreams!: CBC/CP/AP – Romania’s losing presidential candidate claims he was attacked with negative energy
- (EXTRA) You gotta let your worker bees know who’s boss by kicking around their homes, apparently..: ScienceDaily – Punishment Important in Plant-Pollinator Relationship
- The thing is: people do this because they think they can get away with it — which leads me to think that it must succeed once and a while. : Philly.com/AP – Man caught at airport with 44 lizards in pants
- (EXTRA) At some point, it will become obvious that not all “natural” disasters are actually “natural”. Until then, we are left guessing..: PressTV – Chavez says US ‘weapon’ caused Haiti quake
- (EXTRA) Sadly, idiocy does not get removed when one puts on a badge, it would seem..: News.com.au/Sky News – Driver fined for blowing nose in van
- (EXTRA) Whew! Danger averted! : Ananova – Man tried to board plane with severed seal’s head
- (EXTRA) In our defence: they were really, really *tasty*..: ScienceDaily – Humans Caused Demise of Australia’s Megafauna, Evidence Shows
- I believe that there may be something to dowsing; I also believe that there is a huge potential to scam people..: BBC – Export ban for useless ‘bomb detector’
- Your well-manicured lawn will kill us all!: ScienceDaily – Urban ‘Green’ Spaces May Contribute to Global Warming
- (EXTRA) I suppose you might always thing there’s someone behind the movie..: Pravda – 3D Films Can Make You Paranoid
- Ok, so Idiocracy got a *few* details wrong..: The UK Daily Mail – Not-so-steady cam! The first film to be shot entirely by chimps using bash-proof cameras
- Given that it requires so little seed material, I can see this leading to a GLOBAL WATER CATASTOPHE. Just sayin’: bottle some water..: Tom’s Guide – Japanese Scientists Create Elastic Water
- (EXTRA) I’m not sure who thought that going birding in the middle of Afghanistan is an appropriate job right now, but they probably should think twice..: Paleontology News/University of Gothenburg – World’s least known bird rediscovered
- (EXTRA) As long as their names are “ARRRG!” and “OW STOP BITING ME”.: The UK Telegraph – Crocodiles ‘taught to recognise their names’
- (EXTRA) It’s kinda like Planet X/Nibiri but on an asteroid scale..: New Scientist – Hidden asteroids are stalking the Earth
- (EXTRA) It’s just like Superman — except that it uses a 1000 laser shots..: New Scientist – ‘Superman’ vision penetrates opaque glass
- (EXTRA) But at least we might find what we need..: ScienceDaily – Why We Can’t Always Find What We’re Looking for (and Sometimes Find What Isn’t There)
- (EXTRA) Did the “Bowlingual” product ever make it to the iPod?: LiveScience – New App Translates Baby’s Cries
- (EXTRA) If prisoners are ever caught smiling, having fun, using their imagination or considering anything but utter misery, they must be in the wrong..: GameCulture – Wisconsin Prisons Ban D&D Over “Gang” Worries, Courts Agree
- (EXTRA) Well, that officially takes the stigma and danger off of it, making it pink..: Geekologie – It’s About Time: A Ouija Board Just For Her
- (EXTRA) There are more dubious awards out there — but they weren’t handed out by Sting..: Ananova – Bunker 13 author wins bad sex award
- (EXTRA) It sounds a lot like redundant messaging: send a lot of messages, and the flood of the ensures that at least one gets there early.. Or something like that..: ScienceDaily – Single Photons Observed at Seemingly Faster-Than-Light Speeds
- (EXTRA) I don’t know what it can be used for, exactly.. But part of me doesn’t care! Light knots! Pew! Pew!: LiveScience – Twisted Physics: Scientists Create Light Knots
- (EXTRA) Yeah, that musty smell we bibliophiles like so much? DEATH (to books, at least).: Paleontology News – ‘Smell of old books’ offers clues to help preserve them
- (EXTRA) Feh! It’s really just “falling” more than “jumping”..: RIA Novosti – Austrian thrill-seeker to jump from 23 miles
- (EXTRA) Throw in a road to nowhere, a bridge that touches the sky (not yet built) and a bottle of snake oil, and it might just be a bargain!: STV – Biggest man-made hole in Europe goes on sale
- (EXTRA) I see many future opportunities for a complete trashing of history and bold names — but plenty of opportunities for (crass) sponsership!: ABC/Reuters – “Avatar” Inspires China Province to Rename Mountain
- (EXTRA) In reality, isn’t everything fake?: MSNBC/Discovery News – Joan of Arc ‘relics’ confirmed to be fake
- (EXTRA) There’s a whole heap of “just cuz” in this.. Seems about as un-Buddha-like as Walmart..: CBC/CP/AP – Vietnamese entrepreneur aims to carve 20-ton jade Buddha – the world’s biggest
- (EXTRA) I smell a conspiracy.. or maybe that’s just decaying books again.: Ananova – Robbery victim sues ‘unsubtle’ bank
- (EXTRA) Is this the part that says “Oh, and by the way: use some common sense. All of the above might just be rubbish, in some situations.”: Paleontology News/University College London – Lost Roman law code discovered in London
- (EXTRA) You’d think the play itself would be a guide to the dangers of binge drinking, given that the it is about characters binge drinking and getting into trouble..: The UK Telegraph – German play descends into chaos after actors ‘experiment’ with vodka
- Body Work of Twisted Extras:
- (EXTRA) Ok, but what are the odds that the odds are even right?: Herald Tribune/De Void – Laying odds on the odd
- (EXTRA) Given how much wild space there really is out there, I’m not quite as surprised that we occasionally discover that there are tonnes of critters we don’t see often..: The UK Daily Mail – Pictured: The mystery ‘Buckshaw Beast’ that is savaging animals and terrorising villagers
- (EXTRA) Well, at least we are all “speciesist” and insist on fixing humans first..: The UK Telegraph – Missy the cat: world’s first feline recipient of artificial knee
- (EXTRA) Yup… Looks like a pawprint.: The UK Daily Mail – Is the big cat mystery finally solved? Villagers find huge paw prints in snow after 30 years of sightings
- (EXTRA) So much for that whole “mate for life” thing..: BBC – Experts stunned by swan ‘divorce’ at Slimbridge wetland
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