TWS153: Apocalypse Meow
Promo: Merciless Storytellers
Promo: Parsec Awards 2010
CQ: Which is better: a single standard that works reasonably well for everyone — but not perfectly! — or multiple standards which work perfectly for each person, but are incompatible with each other?
On the show this week:
- Front Page
- Everyone Is Going Mental
- Baab The Builder?
- Invading The Animal Kingdom
- Extras
Full list of 81 articles after the jump!
- Front Page:
- Hello? Is There Anybody In There?: New Scientist – Mysterious radio waves emitted from nearby galaxy
- There is nothing that cannot be taken seriously by academia!: The UK Telegraph – UFO studies should be ‘legitimate university subject’, claims American professor
- Where there are no classrooms, but they still take attendance..: FlashNews – Ghost Of Edgar Allan Poe Opens College
- Who says the universe doesn’t fire warning shots?: CNN – Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky
- Just like the best careers, so much brilliant energy released and very little left in the end..: Discovery On/Bureau Report – Meteor fragment found in Wisconsin
- How many universes dance on the head of a pin?: Science Daily – Our Universe at Home Within a Larger Universe? So Suggests Physicist’s Wormhole Research
- Good thing we won’t have any massive lava flows any time soon.. Oh… whoops..: Science Daily – Northwest Lava Flows Could Have Altered Earth’s Climate, Wiped out Species, New Evidence Suggests
- Forget the face on Mars: this one is FRIGHTENING!: The UK Telegraph – Proof that vulcanic ash comes from a Nordic god
- Good thing we aren’t seeing any signs of climate change.. Oh… whoops..: Science Daily – Geologist Connects Regular Changes of Earth’s Orbital Cycle to Changes in Climate
- Yup. It is also potentially keeping my anxiety igh.: BBC – Icelandic volcanic ash alert grounds UK flights
- It’s like saying “Oops, I farted!”.: AOL News – Chopra Blames Own Meditation for Baja Quake
- We are literally screwing the world up?: Herald Sun/AFP – Extramarital sex fuels earthquakes, warns Iran cleric
- Boobs don’t cause earthquakes, although occasionally idiots might!: Metro – Facebook ‘Boobquake’ group to ‘prove boobs don’t cause earthquakes’
- Everyone Is Going Mental:
- (EXTRA) Next time you go to eat that greasy burger, imagine the baleful, angry eyes of your future grandkids boring a hole in your forehead..: PhysOrg – Breast cancer risk tied to grandmother’s diet
- Rap has gone really old school..: Arizona Daily Star – Rapping helps her push back vs. Parkinson’s
- What’s *frrrt* so wrong *plop!* with sounds *toot!* anyway?: Weird Asia News – Japan Invents Palm-Sized Pee and Poop Audio Masker
- (EXTRA) Everything means something, and nothing means anything…: China Daily/Reuters – What does your name mean? Well, death!
- (EXTRA) STRAND10: GOTO STRAND10?: Science Daily – Scientists Discover New Genetic Sub-Code
- We should all have such a “disorder”..: LiveScience – Individuals with Rare Disorder Have No Racial Biases
- Change. Memory. Vulnerability. Equality. Not entirely a compelling argument.: io9 – Four Arguments Against Immortality
- Now *this* is an argument against immortality!: Popular Science – Blocking Delicious Smells Could Lead to Longer Lifespans
- Apparently, silly and narrow training games only make you better at doing silly and narrow training games..: ABC Australia – UK research casts doubt on brain training
- They’re easy to spot, what with the masks and reasonable rates.: ABC Australia – Expert sounds warning on rogue psychotherapists
- I’m sending you daggers right. Laser daggers.: Yahoo!/Marketwire – PRESS RELEASE: Psychiatrist’s Research Finds You Really Can Feel a Person’s Stare
- (EXTRA) Next: “Follicularly Challenged Support Group seeks Human Rights Damages”.: The San Luis Obispo Tribune/AP – Mustache advocacy group seeks tax break
- (EXTRA) “I’m so depressed.. No one ever listens to me..” “..” “Hello?”: The UK Daily Mail – Suicide helpline priest nods off during call… so depressed man decides to live on so he can complain
- (EXTRA) He got sent back.. Was this an “Out Of Candy” experience?: Yahoo!/SKY News – Clinically Dead Boy ‘Saw Granny In Heaven’
- (EXTRA) I was lying on gurney, dyin’. And then I got high.: Science Daily – Carbon Dioxide May Explain ‘Near Death Experiences’
- (EXTRA) Believing in an ultimate place of happiness is, apparently, foolish. Much like ultimate science, methinks..: The Independent – Heaven: A fool’s paradise
- (EXTRA) They’re all laughing… but I doubt they’re giving them back..: Fox News – 7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls
- (EXTRA) Do minds learn more than we can consciously act on?: The UK Telegraph – Croatian teenager wakes from coma speaking fluent German
- (EXTRA) I knew that studying foreign languages can be a headache, but..: The UK Telegraph – Migraine sufferer starts speaking with Chinese accent
- (EXTRA) I’m just trying to break you from your reality.: The UK Guardian – Hey, what’s that sound: the Katzenklavier
- (EXTRA) And yet, 95% of people will ridicule the 20% and claim they are sane..: Yahoo!/Reuters – They walk among us: 1 in 5 believe in aliens: survey
- (EXTRA) You must fight for the alien right to goofiness as well as the human right to idiocy.: Orlando Sentinel – Prince Mongo takes a stand – with his front yard
- (EXTRA) Just because something is on the fringe of “normal” doesn’t necessarily mean it involves insanity..: Digital Journal – Are UFOs just a symptom of the stresses of 21st century life? Special
- (EXTRA) Celebration and rewards for stupidity are anti-evolutionary actions..: WWLP 22 News/AP – ‘Village Idiot’: Woman set hair on fire
- (EXTRA) Evolution has been stymied by modern medicine, perhaps..: News.com.au – Woman soaked in petrol lights cigarette after argument with partner at Eagleby
- (EXTRA) I know there is power in my beard, but I had no idea..: The UK Telegraph – Spaniard kidnapped in Congo ‘had body hair shaved for magic spells’
- (EXTRA) I’ve heard of sport-enhancing prosthetics, but…: CBS – Drug Test-Cheating Fake Penis Maker Sentenced
- (EXTRA) Talk about going “in through the out door”.. I expect the service to be crap, though..: Walyou – Bizarre Rectum Bar Design in Vienna
- Baab The Builder?:
- (EXTRA) We are now living in the End Days. Happy?: PhysOrg – DARPA announces plans for self-piloted flying car
- (EXTRA) If this is real, it’s rather.. unreal.: World Around Us/Reuters – Turkmen president wants to close “Hell’s Gate”
- (EXTRA) Ah, how many other ways can we screw up future historians?: The UK Telegraph – Stonehenge Down Under: Australians copy Neolithic rock structure to draw tourists
- (EXTRA) I think they may have Rome’d too far!: Discovery Online/AP – Roman-era mummy found in Egyptian oasis
- (EXTRA) ALWAYS check for hidden passages and room. (And traps.): The UK Daily Mail – Family discover ancient chapel hidden under their house
- (EXTRA) Step 1: Know Your God. Step 2: Gather 1000 followers. Step 3: Build Temple. …: The UK Telegraph – Archaeologists unearth 6th century Ikea-style temple
- (EXTRA) They had a notion to feel the motion of the ocean..: Phenomenica/IANS – A robotic underwater vehicle powered by ocean movement
- (EXTRA) BEHOLD! The *power* of SCIENCE!: ABC News – Science used in attempted jail break
- (EXTRA) Hey, it doesn’t get rid of the problem, but at least it is a creative way to clean up our act..: Fast Company – Paradise Recycled: Architects Dream of Turning Great Pacific Garbage Patch Into Habitable Island
- (EXTRA) Who knew that the dead shine?: MSNBC/DiscoveryNews – New tech sees dead people
- (EXTRA) Maybe they can be recycled into… um.. nevermind.: The Globe and Mail/AP – Sherpas set out to clear Everest of garbage — and corpses
- (EXTRA) This is so significant on such an insignificant scale..: ABC Australia – Scientists record world’s tiniest nudge
- (EXTRA) They just had to wait for their eyes to adjust in the dark?: Discovery Online/ANI – Astronomers Found 9 New Planets
- (EXTRA) If only I could afford a condo on the moon.. The front yard wouldn’t hold much for a garden, but the view would be AWESOME.: Phenomenica – Tunnels on Moon can habitate humans
- (EXTRA) A spectacular example of a video that just cannot be believed..: The Sun – Fighter jets chase UFO down the M5
- Invading The Animal Kingdom:
- (EXTRA) Sure, they may not be real, but they’re really stuffed!: The UK Telegraph – Stuffed animals to be sold at auction
- Not exactly a Vaudeville act, but it might have been one way to defeat Bugs Bunny..: The UK Times – Rabbit whisperer can put bunny in a trance, even if it’s hopping mad
- Baad men become Baa Men?: The UK Telegraph – Argentina criminals ‘evade capture by dressing up as sheep’
- Oh noes! They’re working *together*!: BBC – Earthworms form herds and make “group decisions”
- They’re getting smarter. Soon, they will be worthy successors..: BBC – Clever New Caledonian crows can use three tools
- Victory through superior culinary power.: ABC Australia – Locust swarm inspires new pizza topping
- I feel rather nervous now. Squick!: BBC – New species of nose-dwelling leech discovered
- Asian gangs overwhelm larger, more timid locals..: The UK Telegraph – Asian hornet threatens British bees
- Bees really have a terrible life of deception and lies from all their interactions.. No wonder they are communal!: BBC – More light shed on orchids that deceive bees
- That just means they see their miserable lives quicker, and really should know better..: Discovery On/IANS – Bees see world 5 times faster than humans
- (EXTRA) The animal world is too slow in evolving a useful solution, so an artist (!) did it instead..: Green Diary – Plantas Nomadas: Water-purifying robot is part bot, part plant
- (EXTRA) It’s when they spotted the bookstand and reading glasses that they started to worry..: Planet Earth Online – X-rays reveal ancient roach’s secret life
- (EXTRA) RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!: BBC – ‘Gigantic scorpion’ fossil found in Fife
- (EXTRA) Yet another white elephant project for government — literally?: The UK Independent – Why Burma’s dictatorship is desperately hunting for a white elephant
- (EXTRA) Maybe they *ate* all the white elephants.. Yeek!: Phenomenica – Microbes in our oceans weigh as much as 240bn elephants
- (EXTRA) “You know that whales poop in that water, don’t ya?” “Yes,” he replied proudly. “I do.”: New Scientist – Whale poop is vital to ocean’s carbon cycle
- (EXTRA) Most people just build a “dog house”.: One India News – People build a temple for dog in Karnataka
- Extras:
- (EXTRA) Do they have a Royal Swan Assassin for that?: The UK Telegraph – Cambridge rowers ask Queen to kill violent swan
- (EXTRA) If I were a Smurf, this would be perfectly sized. As it is, it’s just AWESOME.: The UK Telegraph – Lord of The Rings fan makes miniature Frodo Baggins’ home
- (EXTRA) Using puns to defend yourself against trademarks? AWESOME.: The Sydney Morning Herald – US fizzes as Bolivia produces the real thing
- (EXTRA) My answer was “about 4 hours”, but apparently I’m a wimp..: New Scientist – Maxed out: How long could you survive without food or drink?
- (EXTRA) Faith healer draws negative attention.: The Sunday Tribune – ‘We know the devil is in Knock. He does everything to stop me’
- (EXTRA) Sometimes, you should really take it as a sign: get out of politics!: The UK Telegraph – Dead man elected as US mayor
- (EXTRA) I think this was an issue of Hellboy..: The UK Daily Mail – Hitler wanted to steal the Turin Shroud – ‘but was thwarted by the Vatican’
- (EXTRA) OBJOKE: Whoa! That’s some “heavy metal”!: Gillette News-Record – 1,501 needles
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