CQ: 2012 seems to be all about repeated historical cycles coming round again. What 3 historical cycles do you think — or want — to repeat in 2012?
On the show this week:
- Undividuals; see also: ‘windividual’
- Parents will use an app which listens to them talking to their toddlers — to make sure that they are giving them the requisite amount of appropriate stimulation, lots of word forms and vocabulary, as well as not too much baby talk. It will also optionally count swearing, monitoring the child’s babbling, check accents and more.
- Once the toxin survival gene is isolated in fish, experimental roll-outs will begin to have it implanted in new “mutant fish oil” pills. Curiously, the major chemical companies are behind it — is there something they aren’t telling us?
- A new book will spark great controversy and a restructuring of kindergarten: “Google Gaagaa” is a tell-all book about just how much kindergartener’s *actually* know and experience. It will shock the world, who persists in forgetting what it was like when they were that age, assuming from the grown-up point-of-view that kids are as dumb as they seem.
- Having also conquered the ability to control aging — both to slow it down and to rapidly speed it up, many families are deciding to speed-grow their children to make them fully-capable physical adults by age 10. The process is repeated for clones, finally getting rid of that last step necessary (when combined with the ability to read, store and flash memories that we also got in 2011).
- Having realized how to live forever by decoding the genes of old people, many suddenly realize that we don’t want to, as few can afford to. Only the very richest can afford it, and they decide to almost all do it, creating a ruling class of immortals whom everyone calls “vampires”. Real vampires make themselves public just to put down the slander. “We’re evil,” they say, “but those guys are just *mean*.”
- Those seeking a form of immortality — and desiring immortality for those left behind — will donate their bodies for science, specifically to discover how we can live forever. These “pre-corpses” will find their numbers swelled by the number of punished prisoners no longer sentenced to death, but sentenced to science..
- The craze of “partial cremation” sweeps across the semi-rich. At first, it is only the sacrifice of optional or damaged limbs/organs that is given up to the living ash wake, but then “extraneous” bits of the body are given up as the craze takes off. Soon, the rich are giving up pinky fingers, ends of ears, spare toes and more, and having elaborate “wake the dead” parties. After someone gives up a hand, it gets out of control, so they just print out copies of organs and burn them instead (theirs at first, then a blackmarket develops in bootlegged organ plans).
- Another prediction from Cyberpunk (the Roleplaying Game) comes true in 2012, as the craze of “becoming your heros” takes off. Forget looking like Elvis: people gather in clubs over their obsession with everyone from the cast of Lost and Battlestar Galactica, from the Queen to Freddie Mercury from Queen. People no longer seek individuality, but rather crave to be part of a greater, common whole. In this way, singularity is achieved, but in an entirely different semantic way..
- The “Neo-Neanderthal Movement” celebrates individuals connections with the Thals, both in terms of feathered clothing and in getting yourself “certified Thal” with a simple DNA test. Man-caves will become *actual* caves.
- There will be a highly successful and very controversial Kickstarter campaign to enshrine Phoenix Jones with a statue in the middle of Seattle. The vigilante superhero will refuse it, but the public will ignore him and due it again. Soon, other enterprising would-be superheros realize the power of Kickstarter, and the race is one to build the first superhero lair, entirely crowd-funded. It comes full circle when the man himself, Stan Lee, takes a stand against the dangerous vigilanteism, which spurs them over the top in funding. Stan will relent in 2013, when he creates a comic book based on a vigilante based on Captain America..
- The loudest cat purr in the world used as new sonic weapon in the war on Occupy and protests. Protestors will be heard rofling and loling as well as screaming in agony. “So cute!” they cry. “Teh cute, it burns us!”
- Body enhancement and crime fighting join forces with the fringes of the Occupy movement and urban vigilantism to create the next wave of citizen crimefighting: ReOccupy The Streets. Gangs and other organized crime groups (not to mention the cops, the domestic forces and spy agencies) all elevate things to a massive firefight, until the only person left standing is wearing a home-built Iron Man suit. Inside, an unlikely waif has captured the hearts of the people — not to mention totally pwning the loser newbs at this game of “Urban Command and Conquer”. She becomes the next president, and things are totally wicked cool after that. Rad.
- Someone will invent the “air guitar suit” peripheral for a home console, allowing air guitarists (and air drummers!) to finally demonstrate that their mad skillz really *do* work! (Alternatively, someone will just do this with the XBOX [videocamera thing].)
- Only too late do we realize that the emerging AI intelligence isn’t actually being created by us. Rather, it is at that point that we recognize the true masters of the world are all the bacteria which float in our bodies, steering us as we steer our cars. Once they have the power of AI under their collective (and tiny) belts, they begin dispensing with us puny humans. The Robot War on Stomachs begins..
- A new virus escapes from an amateur lab, changing the face of humanity forever. Originally designed as a simple fashion statement, the “glowface” virus inserts DNA into a host’s own, transforming fat cells underneath the skin of the face into bioluminescent patches. These tend to flare up when the body is experiencing illness, and soon people run away from anyone with a bright green glow. Some people, however, just have a natural glow about them, especially pregnant women. Pregnancy is now mostly a hidden state, because it really creeps some people out to see a distended belly with flashing green face….
- Robotic versions of cuddly teddy bears will be sent around the world to be virtually inhabited by cash-strapped tourists who can’t travel places themselves. It gets a bit messy when the teddy avatars start to be used for sex and rock’n’roll..
- Unlocking the power of the martial arts masters and bottling it in electronic experience junkets allows the general populace to “hook up some Zen” in an easy way.
- The ability to decode and replay memories along with the Kiss transmission device and the Hug transmission device create a new market in “virtual love”. Some people replay the intimate encounters of entire relationships, and other sell them. Freeloaders can get plenty for free by just following the right (or wrong!) people on Facebook, who give a whole new meaning of “kiss and tell” when they share their latest kissing online. In the future, they use the term “kiss and d/l” without realizing where it came from.
- Movie makers and trolls try to capitalize on the surprise success of fake rockstar Nigel Tufnel’s 11/11/11 celebration by declaring 12/12/12 to be Chuck Norris Day. However, the meme fails and the backlash creates the alternative name for the day: “The Day The Mirth Stood Still”. Meanwhile, bakers around the world instead point to 12/12/13 as “Baker’s Dozen Day”, and much pastries are had. Yum, pastries..
- The naming gates are thrown wide in 2012, as parents, desperate to have their kids stand out, give them all sorts of ridiculous names. Originality and cleverness abound, with puns being the number 1 generator of new names. No longer will you have four Marks and two Susans, three Sarahs and four Jakes. Instead, it’s Markerboard, Skidmark, Dree Market, Lamppost, Sculpture, Pope Jim, Jackintosh, Cell Bydate, Shoesun and Ringtony.
- More and more elaborate and involved “simulation holidays” will be created. This year saw the army life simulation and the stay in a manger. Soon, we’ll have the entire world LARPing and they’ll no longer laugh at convention-goers. Unfortunately, conventions will suddenly overflow with clueless people looking for the latest “simohol”..
- We finally unlock the secret of why prayer and meditation works so well to combat our problems. Then, we synthesize it into a pill, take it daily, and are mellow for the rest of our unnaturally long lives.. Until the pills run out, and we suddenly create a revolution, kinda by accident. Bummed out, we suddenly realize all the philosophical truths of the universe, and implode into a being of pure thought. Don’t worry, though: that’s not due for a few decades yet…
- As people discover more and more about the manufactured and artificial nature of the city, suburb and town design all around us, clever ones among us decide they can do it again. After all, while there have been some failures, the suburbs were a model that lasted 50 years, and factory towns still exist long after the factories that created them have ceased. The quest for the new suburb for the new generations begins, and the sheer number of designs proposed is staggering. Ultimately, the model that is most sustainable is simply giving up compressed urban life altogether and moving onto large collective farms, which are no longer considered as isolating as they once were with great broadband, near ubiquitous cell phone and wifi access, and decent sky trains. Ah, yes.. The Sky trains will truly rock..
- The search for the “perfect beauty” form continues and gets more radical. Body shapes become more controversial, and people seek more and more extreme changes to make themselves stand out. The most extreme will be to switch up the positions of the arms and legs, a surgery that would have been impossible before, but recent extensions in medical science (and a ginormous amount of money) will make it work. Halfway through, however, the client decides to change the idea, having a pair of clone-formed arms attached where his legs were, making him the first human with four hands… but not the last.
- The “perfect joke” in invented, one that makes anyone laugh, anywhere. Suddenly, the Internet is filled with it, and we all laugh ourselves into blissful peace. Blissful, except we no longer get anything done, and all of society collapses. So much for world peace through laughter!
- Eschatrollogical
- New celebrations abound in 2012, including “take your cat to work day”, “international day of sockless abandon”, “intergalactic pandimensional gargle blasting”, and my personal favourite, “Formal Day”, in which participants will be encouraged to dress better rather than slouch around like they do the rest of the week. It happens on Tuesdays.
- The Muppets are starting a third party and will be running in the next American federal election, led by the controversial figure, Marxist the Frog. Their slogan will be “Real puppets taking back Our Street from the puppet masters.”
- We will redefine “smells bad” and “looks bad” in 2012, and gain an rather disturbing appreciation for all things excrement. In other words, the art world goes to *BEEP* in the coming year.
- Occupy: The Movie will be released in the summer of 2012. It will bear little resemblance to the actual events of the Occupy movement, instead having morphed into a detective tale/supernatural thriller/comedy/drama/love story between a female cop on the front lines and a controversial but skilled “Mic Check” orator. By the end of the film, they have swapped roles and swapped spit, and the sequel to the film will feature their daughter, born of two worlds and able to unite the world together under one banner: “Occupy The Moon!”.
- 50% of the economy becomes creative, making things and capturing data and transforming information and producing cultural artifacts for others. That’s not so much a rediction, as a sincere dream..
- The veneration of the past will itself become a thing of the past, as people argue successfully that the unquestioning preservation of the past is a deterrent for the future growth. Museums are voided of artifacts, old buildings are no longer quarantined when found under mounds of dirt, and old bones in graveyards are burned and turned into fertilizer. Incidentlly, the energy released from the burning of old bones is used to heat a large music ampitheatre, where 10-minute pop stars perform for increasingly bored crowds..
- Security theatre finally reaches it’s zenith in 2012, spurred on by apocalyptic visions and a fanatic belief that television tells the truth. Hundreds are wounded at an airport after an actual terrorist walks right through the security theatre unchecked, but an old lady — further known as “Grandma Death” — is accosted, strip-searched and beaten for her insistence in keeping her nasal drip spray in her purse, outside of arthritis-defeating plastic bags. After Grandma Death becomes an internet meme, airports around the world remove all the intrusive impediments to safe and happy travel.. Sorry, dreaming again.
- Fed up with reality as it now sits, a movement of disgruntled students and free thinkers “invents” a new one, creates an entire fictional background for it, and seeks to bootstrap Reality 2.0. Their goal is, if they are successful, that future historians will never know that the current reality even existed. “We’ll plant giant bones and age them properly, develop new indiginous life, and completely transform the world.” There are some who claim that this already happened, and that the evidence has been kept secret by the previous Lore Keepers.. After all, isn’t that what the Scientologists and the Raelians are trying to do, and what the Christian-centred religions already tried to do?
- 2012 will be known as “the year we all hunkered down and got really efficient, yo”. We’ll do things that we would never dream of, like getting an energy-efficient haircut, returning to candles, recycling and eating leftovers.
- We’ll continue to redefine such quaint, antiquated and restricted notions such as “marriage” and “religion” and “relationship”, until only the broadest, most inclusive definitions really apply. After the initial boom of pseudo-religions created to capitalize on contractual language based on old definitions is finished, certain “rules” to govern what might be called a recognizable faith or religion are defined. Surprisingly, these rules don’t include any test of faith, but they do require a certain amount of tithing to a central organization. Banks immediately declare themselves to be religious institutions to seek federal funding, which in turn triggers public outcry, the destruction of the banks and the creation of the OMNIROBOBANK, a completely autonomous and computer-controlled non-profit banking system which forbids humans to be involved in any banking decisions, creating the global electronic currency which unites the world. Sure, a few countries fell in the wake of this turmoil, but the rest of the world got together to buy them a nice card..
Full list of articles after the jump!
- Undividuals:
- (EXTRA) : PhysOrg/University of Rochester – (O) Parents’ ‘um’s’ and ‘uh’s’ help toddlers learn new words, cognitive scientists find
- (EXTRA) : Discovery – (O) Mutation Lets Fish Thrive in Toxins
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) When will the 7 billionth human be born?
- (EXTRA) : The Gralien Report – (O) Singular Semantics: Vallee and the Origins of Technological Singularity
- (EXTRA) : The Telegraph – (O) Month a baby is born ‘suggests what career they will have’
- (EXTRA) : Wired/Danger Room – (O) Grow Your Own Security: Prof Breeds Bomb-Spotting Plants
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Squid May Help Make Soldiers Invisible
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Toddler helps translate Jonathan Swift love letters
- (EXTRA) : Wired – (O) Sega Installs “Toylet” Games in Japan’s Urinals
- (EXTRA) : Medical Xpress – (O) Being in the ‘no’: questions influence what we remember
- (EXTRA) : Yahoo/Reuters – (O) Nicolas Cage awoken by naked man with Fudgesicle
- (EXTRA) : CBC – (O) 3D printers create edible objects
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) High School ‘Bans’ Hugging
- (EXTRA) : The New York Times – (O) Cellphone Use Tied to Changes in Brain Activity
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Aline Westphal becomes first female Air Guitar World Champion in Finland
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Hard-up students urged to strip
- (EXTRA) : Diginfo.TV – (O) Kiss Transmission Device
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Man claims 140-year-old photo proves Nicolas Cage is a vampire
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Your brain signals can drive how the movie ends
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Mind controls: Electrodes sitting on the brain’s surface
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Coffee taster gets £2million nose insurance
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Mind controls: Magnetic relief for depression
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Happiness peaks in our eighties
- (EXTRA) : Science Daily – (O) Universal Property of Music Discovered
- (EXTRA) : Medical News Today – (O) Transcendental Meditation Found To Improve Standardized Academic Achievement
- (EXTRA) : Medical News Today – (O) Praying For Anger Management
- (EXTRA) : io9 – (O) The million-dollar Vampire Nic Cage photo vanishes from eBay – but time-traveling John Travolta takes his place
- (EXTRA) : STV – (O) Researchers seeking cure for forgetfulness
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) Bowser Beer For Dogs Earns World Record
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) How coffee can boost the brainpower of women… but scrambles men’s thinking
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Zapping the brain sparks bright ideas
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) A shot of snake blood makes the heart grow
- (EXTRA) : io9/Not Exactly Rocket Science – (O) Man with schizophrenia has out-of-body experience in lab, gains knowledge, controls his psychosis
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Taste bud trickery needed to cut salt intake
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Teenage girl collapses and dies after first kiss
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) A glass of water has DNA traces of EVERY living thing in a whole lake – and it could change the way we monitor animals forever
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Feel the pain, shed the guilt
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Virtual robot links body to numbers just like humans
- (EXTRA) : io9 – (O) Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia: When People Taste Words
- (EXTRA) : Mysterious Universe – (O) Man or Mutant: Is Human Language the Product of Bizarre Mutation?
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) The dope on mental enhancement
- (EXTRA) : io9/Not Exactly Rocket Science – (O) Our bodies are a global marketplace where bacteria trade genes
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Poet writes verse in bug’s genes and receives reply
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Welcome to California City: The Imaginary Metropolis
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Fluorescing bacteria used to encode secret messages
- (EXTRA) : The Mianichi Daily News – (O) Study finds crows can distinguish symbols representing quantities
- (EXTRA) : Youtube – (O) Printing a human kidney
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Dying ‘Body Worlds’ Artist Plans to Put His Plastinated Corpse on Exhibit
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) A stay in a manger
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Drew Beaumier, real-life Transformer, reveals ‘chicks find it sexy’
- (EXTRA) : The New York Times – (O) Cyberspace When You’re Dead
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Size Matters: Why Americans Would Never Go for Japan’s Capsule Hotels
- (EXTRA) : NPR – (O) The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) An ‘English goddess’ for India’s down-trodden
- (EXTRA) : io9 – (O) The Molecules that Could Erase (or Restore) Your Memory
- (EXTRA) : Fox8 Cleveland – (O) Miracle Gaze? Spiritual Leader Stares at Thousands Downtown
- (EXTRA) : The Belfast Telegraph – (O) Man donates body for mummification
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Taste of army life for tourists
- (EXTRA) : WYFF4 – (O) City Makes Thousands From Sagging Pants
- (EXTRA) : PRI – (O) ‘Divorce hotel’ in the Netherlands eases painful process
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Dining on dog food at Bestival
- (EXTRA) : Gather – (O) Live Long and Prosper: Leonard Nimoy Says Goodbye to ‘Star Trek’ Fans (Video)
- (EXTRA) : Reuters – (O) Alabama company turns gun lovers’ ashes into ammunition
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) ‘Grow a beard for Belgium’ appeal by actor Poelvoorde
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Dyslexic man masters Klingon
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Marmite and beer inspire new perfume
- (EXTRA) : The UK Guardian/Press Association – (O) Poor diets may lower children’s IQ
- (EXTRA) : USA Today/AP – (O) 285 Indian girls shed ‘unwanted’ names
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Robots to get their own internet
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Mystery condition makes woman age 50 years in just a few days
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) DNA sequenced of woman who lived to 115
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) BeautifulPeople.com thrown off eBay for auctioning date with the Virgin Mary
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist/One Per Cent – (O) Turn anything (even your clothes) into a touchscreen
- (EXTRA) : MSNBC/AP – (O) Scratch ‘Harry Baals’ off list of names for government center
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Police arrest masked superhero
- (EXTRA) : Huffington Post – (O) Mohamed Bishr, Saddam Hussein Look-alike, Says Iraqi Gang Tried To Kidnap Him For Porn Films (VIDEO)
- (EXTRA) : The UK Sun – (O) Superfan: Superman fanatic has surgery to look like his hero
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Dreams read by brain scanner for the first time
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Skin ‘sees’ the light to protect against sunshine
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Halloween wedding for scary skeleton couple
- (EXTRA) : The UK Guardian – (O) Effin woman launches online fight for Facebook recognition
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Brain training for tinnitus reverses ringing in ears
- (EXTRA) : Newser – (O) Seattle ‘Superhero’ Avoids Assault Charge
- (EXTRA) : The Straits Times/The Star/Asia News Network – (O) Doctors baffled by 7-year-old who weeps stones
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Kung Fu master’s movie bid
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Putting your money where your mouth is
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) ‘Spinal Tap’ Fans Celebrating Nov. 11 As ‘Nigel Tufnel Day’
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Phoenix Jones: the masked vigilante protecting Lynnwood, Washington
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon Gets Facelift to Avoid Looking Like William Shatner
- (EXTRA) : The Australian – (O) Cult of the mask grips Japan
- (EXTRA) : NBC NY – (O) Pain Leads Art Professor to Remove “Third Eye” Camera From Head
- (EXTRA) : The Aspen Times – (O) Fair Game: We’re all Neanderthal
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Harness viruses to make dazzling colours without dye
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Man gets smartphone dock built into prosthetic arm
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) ‘Me So Horny’ Rapper Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew Running for Mayor
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) ‘Superhero’ Phoenix Jones: ‘I’ll keep Seattle safe’
- (EXTRA) : Technolog/MSNBC – (O) Detroit RoboCop statue is GO (Thanks, Internet!)
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Move over planking, ‘Batmanning’ is the latest internet craze
- (EXTRA) : GreenMuze – (O) Edible Perfume Capsules
- (EXTRA) : Science Daily – (O) Neanderthals Were Nifty at Controlling Fire
- (EXTRA) : 7News/Reuters – (O) Vampire fans to sail off Alaska coast next year
- (EXTRA) : AOL News – (O) Pretty Man? Mexican Man Has 82 Tattoos of Julia Roberts
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Philadelphia Breast Surgeon Moonlights as Knife Thrower
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Software firm wants naked web coders
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Kung Fu master swings weights from his eye
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Live Batman stage show launches in London
- (EXTRA) : LiveScience – (O) Depressed People Make Better Decisions
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Ninja protects the not-so-mean streets of Tunbridge Wells
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Naked wedding couple’s stripped back ceremony
- (EXTRA) : Reuters – (O) Japan camera prettifies subjects, even adds “makeup”
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Sili name must be changed, say villagers
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Nude Therapist Takes Off (and Takes It All Off) in New York
- (EXTRA) : PhysOrg – (O) Evidence Neanderthals used feathers for decoration
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Keeping up e-ppearances: How to bury your digital dirt
- (EXTRA) : The Guardian – (O) Researchers use virtual-reality avatars to create ‘out-of-body’ experience
- (EXTRA) : Yahoo! UK – (O) Man names his first-born daughter ‘Facebook’
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) ‘Messy’ school photos airbrushed at Melbourne college
- (EXTRA) : KATU.com/AP – (O) Police: Fake doc injected cement in woman’s buttocks
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Chinese online gamer dies after three-day session
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Hairiest man is face of dating agency
- (EXTRA) : MSNBC – (O) NJ Woman Questioned in Alleged Butt Implant Death
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) Mummified remains of dead woman’s mother found in house dressed in pyjamas, wearing one sock and wrapped in plastic
- (EXTRA) : MSNBC – (O) Sperm bank: Redheads need not apply
- (EXTRA) : The Daily Mail – (O) Japanese firm orders 2,700 staff to get the same ‘energy saving’ haircut… so they don’t have to spend as long blow-drying
- (EXTRA) : The UK Mirror – (O) My bum is the widest in the world.. and I want to make it bigger
- (EXTRA) : The Chicago Sun-Times – (O) Woman dies after injecting hot beef fat into her face
- (EXTRA) : Silver Screen Saucers – (O) Charles Fort: the movie!
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Dominatrix masters her subject
- (EXTRA) : CNN – (O) Chilling out with the world’s only ice musician
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) All aboard the Ark Hotel! Giant biosphere is a ‘self-contained haven’ in event of climate change flood disaster
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) Court allows ‘warlock’ out to break curfew on full moon nights to perform Wicca ritual
- (EXTRA) : FOX/AP – (O) Expectant South African Couple Discover They Are Brother and Sister
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) You’re having a laugh! Dangerous drivers get the silent treatment as Venezuela employs mime artists to be traffic police
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) ‘Laugh For Peace’: Clowns Gather In Mexico At Four Day Convention (VIDEO and PHOTOS)
- Eschatrollogical:
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Get Ready to Pop! It’s Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
- (EXTRA) : Medical Xpress – (O) Walking through doorways causes forgetting, new research shows
- (EXTRA) : Medical Xpress – (O) Presenteeism: A new word for working when sick
- (EXTRA) : ABC Australia – (O) Claims aviation pioneer Earhart’s plane found in PNG
- (EXTRA) : Mysterious Universe – (O) The Singularity is Here: Human Knowledge and the Coming Intelligence Explosion
- (EXTRA) : DiscoveryOn/IANS – (O) Cloud that can hold water for ages detected
- (EXTRA) : The Gralien Report – (O) Jacques Vallee on “A Theory of Everything (Else)”
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) TVs, fridges and fishing boats: How TWENTY MILLION tons of Japan tsunami debris is closing in on Hawaii
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Japan earthquake: Tsunami hits north-east
- (EXTRA) : Yahoo!/Reuters – (O) Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunami, may be found
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Internet ‘weighs the same as a strawberry’
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Fahrenheit 451 becomes e-book despite author’s feelings
- (EXTRA) : LA Weekly – (O) Toothpaste Lawsuit: Encino Man Can’t Squeeze Out Last 20 Percent of Paste From Tube, Wants His Dollar Back
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Wireless network can watch your breathing
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) The Muppets Are Communist, Fox Business Network Says
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) The end of the world not happening – for now says expert
- (EXTRA) : The UK Independent – (O) Free Willy — his rights under the US constitution are being violated
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) All-seeing ball snaps panoramas in mid-air
- (EXTRA) : Orange UK – (O) Communism takes over Monopoly
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) To Discourage Public Urination, Australian City Introduces Open-Air Urinal
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Dog poo game to fill Xmas stockings
- (EXTRA) : AOL News – (O) Overdosing on ‘Bath Salts’: Designer Drug a Headache for Retailers
- (EXTRA) : How To Be A Retronaut – (O) Toulouse-Lautrec sh*ts on a beach
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) William S. Burroughs’ Preserved Poop Inspires ‘Bio-Art’ Piece
- (EXTRA) : National Post – (O) Not washing jeans for 15 months OK, health-wise at least: study
- (EXTRA) : Orange UK – (O) Low-cut dentist dresses distract patients
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Chop Time Off Your Commute With a Propeller Backpack
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Device ‘cancels out the sound of the dentist’s drill’
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Rubbery muscle motors to make robots more lifelike
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) First UK-built bamboo bike unveiled
- (EXTRA) : Ananova – (O) Drinks firm trademarks F-word
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) ‘Banned’ university ads go viral
- (EXTRA) : Irish Times – (O) Inquest told spontaneous human combustion ‘probably urban myth’
- (EXTRA) : The UK Independent – (O) 10 weird and wonderful university courses
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Revealed — the capitalist network that runs the world
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Woolly hotel room unveiled
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) Occupy Wall Street Condoms Unveiled
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Pilot locks himself in toilet of New York flight and sparks terror alert
- (EXTRA) : New Scientist – (O) Pirate politician: We want open, online government
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post/AP – (O) Man With Rubber Ax: Inducing Panic Charges Dropped Against Bill Morrison
- (EXTRA) : The Sweden Local – (O) Swedish ‘sex school founder’ admits faking it
- (EXTRA) : CNN – (O) ‘Sex meter’ helps Bonn tax prostitutes
- (EXTRA) : Cosmic Log/MSNBC – (O) Just say no … to robot marriage?
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Malawi row over whether new law bans farting
- (EXTRA) : AOL/AP – (O) Don’t Tell That Kid to Keep Quiet! German Bill Would Protect Kids’ Right to Make Noise
- (EXTRA) : Reuters – (O) Immigration Officer Put Wife On Terrorist List To Get Rid Of Her
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Can’t Find a Date? Let a Celeb Be Your Matchmaker
- (EXTRA) : Yahoo!/7News – (O) Blank book on sex outsells ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Da Vinci Code’
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) Court bans man with low IQ from having sex
- (EXTRA) : Yahoo! – (O) World’s youngest grandmother is just 23-years-old
- (EXTRA) : Georgia Tech/Newswise – (O) How Do People Respond to Being Touched by a Robot?
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) ‘Win a Wife’ contest sparks outrage
- (EXTRA) : The Vancouver Sun – (O) Vancouver restaurant’s ‘ban’ on men peeing standing up creates a stir
- (EXTRA) : The UK Telegraph – (O) First Beatles graduate is announced
- (EXTRA) : AOL – (O) Catholic Church Issues Guide on How to Convert Witches
- (EXTRA) : ABC News – (O) Saudi Woman Beheaded for ‘Witchcraft’
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Porn stars to debate at Cambridge
- (EXTRA) : The Balkan Cronicle – (O) Old Bulgarian occult debate rekindled
- (EXTRA) : The New York Times – (O) How Revolutionary Tools Cracked a 1700s Code
- (EXTRA) : The UK Guardian – (O) Sunstones may have helped Vikings navigate from Norway to America
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Obscene graffiti found at royal palace
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Japanese tourists beat credit crunch by sending cuddly toys away instead
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Man leaves wife at home to go on holiday with dolls
- (EXTRA) : China Hush – (O) “No more time-travel drama”, authority says it disrespects history
- (EXTRA) : CNN – (O) Hong Kong’s hot market in ‘haunted’ houses
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) UK’s Durham Crematorium May Sell Body Heat To Great Britain’s National Grid
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Crematorium to heat swimming pool
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) Horror filmmaker arrested after ‘decomposing body of his mother found at home a year after her death’
- (EXTRA) : The UK Daily Mail – (O) The mummified remains of the actress who played the femme fatale in Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman has been found in her rundown Beverly Hills home.
- (EXTRA) : Science Daily – (O) Fat Turns Into Soap in Sewers, Contributes to Overflows
- (EXTRA) : BBC – (O) Harvesting energy: body heat to warm buildings
- (EXTRA) : Gadling/AOL – (O) It’s a band. On a motorcycle. In Russia
- (EXTRA) : Orange – (O) Woman hid husband’s corpse
- (EXTRA) : Metro – (O) Only two people speak dying language Ayapaneco — but refuse to talk
- (EXTRA) : The Huffington Post – (O) Experiments: World May Be Influenced by the Future
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