TWS211: The Unnatural Deception of the Natural World
CQ: With all the information overload we’re experiencing these days, should we just give up and forget history?
CQ: What if there had been another highly intelligent species on Earth?
Bumper: Alexa Chipman of Broken Sea’s Maudelayne – a very awesome audio drama series about the strange goings-on at Maudelayne College, where myth invades relaity!
Promo: Clinton from Comedy4Cast – another fine example of the comedy genre called “I’ve got so many voices in my head, I can cast an entire comedy radio show from them”!
On the show this week:
- Front Page
- Sounds Interesting, Sounds Fishy
- History is full of Dead Things
- It’s a Jungle Out There (And In There, Too)
- Extras
Full list of 55 articles after the jump!
- Front Page:
- Just in time to save us from the dreary mainstream holiday of heartshaped boxes of chocolates and sappy, dewy-eyed couples who are not me..: Mental Floss – 15 Offbeat Holidays You Can Celebrate in February
- I weep the America of principle and fairness.. and humour.: RT – British tourists imprisoned and deported from US… for Twitter jokes
- Well, other than it smelling bad and looking old.. So: fit for cooking! 😀: The Local of Germany – Tub of lard found fit to eat after 64 years
- Ok.. maybe this is a good warning to stop being a hoarder and throw a few things out..: Orange – Hospital’s body of evidence
- It’s got strong walls, a decent rental income and is an upstanding member of the community — what’s not to marry?: RT – Warehouse fiancé: US woman to ‘gay-marry’ historical building
- It’s one of the few times you actually *can* lie down on the job..: Orange – Dozens apply for brothel inspector job
- Sometimes, it really sucks being the outsider..: Orange – Entire town but one man wins lotto
- Are we really as predictable as needing to make decisions on a full stomach?: New Scientist – Weak will comes from tired mental muscles
- Cause nothing helps you pee faster than pressure to pee faster.. Ugh..: The UK Telegraph – Norwegian alarm system monitors length of office lavatory visits
- When “up” and “down” become suggestions, your world gets turned upside-down..: New Scientist – Spaced out: Clearing astronauts’ mental fog
- Sounds Intresting, Sounds Fishy:
- Prodigy, or just what a smart kid with good support and training can be? Elementary school band will never be the same again.: Orange – Schoolgirl, 8, is online guitar hero
- The similarity in sound is remarkable.. But similar effect does not dictate similar cause, but evidence to consider.: Examiner – Musical instrument called a waterphone used in strange UFO sounds hoax
- Let’s be clear: *all* things have a “scientific explanation”; it’s just that sometimes the science is inadequate..: MovieViral – Strange Noises Heard Around The World Could Have Scientific Explanation
- Is this to be explained by a million local explanations? (Probably..): Free Malaysia Today – Mystery of strange sound solved
- If your intent is to deceive, how can you possibly earn trust?: Doubtful Newsblog – The Deliberate Skeptical Hoax
- (EXTRA) Science faces assault from several directions, not weakest of which is mankind’s universal loss of integrity..: Wired UK – Trials and errors: Why science is failing us
- Of course, it will be a long time before they can actually /understand/ them..: Geeks Are Sexy – New technique lets scientists “hear” your thoughts
- Presumably *not* up close..: Orange – Students get chance to study Beyonce
- (EXTRA) The laugh will be on *them*, once the apocalypse actually happens! HAHAHAHA.. ha.. ha.. Hmm.. Crap.: Fox News – Cashing in on the ‘end of the world’ tourism
- I presume they also have problem with eggs, too..: TPM – Oklahoma GOPer Proposes Bill To Outlaw ‘Aborted Human Fetuses’ In Food
- Oh, so it’s *only* sea-species eggs.. From the _sky_..: BBC – Bournemouth resident mystified by ‘blue sphere shower’
- Phew! That was easy..: Gizmodo – How a British Florist Solved the Mystery of the Coming Apocalypse
- (EXTRA) And yet, they still can’t just work well, last long and stay in my damn ears..: New Scientist – Earphones that know when they’re in the wrong ear
- History is full of Dead Things:
- (EXTRA) Cuz, y’know, they could TOTALLY do that back then.. We’ve just forgot how.. (Or were MADE to forget!): io9 – The Capitol architect wanted to reanimate George Washington’s dead body
- (EXTRA) Some president’s never die; other president’s /legacies/ never die..: Yahoo!/Mental Floss – Former President John Tyler’s (1790-1862) grandchildren still alive
- (EXTRA) Interestingly, it sounds almost exactly the same quality as my current voice mail..: The UK Telegraph – Listen to Thomas Edison’s recording of Otto von Bismarck in 1889
- (EXTRA) If this were a “cool”, animated world, this would involve a dark journey through a surreal landscape..: CBS News – “Parasitic twin” found in Peru toddler’s stomach
- (EXTRA) Obviously, the power of entombing an animal was much greater than the kittie ghosts!: The UK Daily Mail – Tutan-CAT-mun: 18th Century mummified kitty falls out of ceiling as house is being renovated
- (EXTRA) Well, that answers one of my curious questions: did they have cancer back then?: The Huffington Post – Ancient Mummy Had Prostate Cancer
- (EXTRA) Bad jokes are the cancer of language?: The UK Daily Mail – The joke that was old when Moses was around: Tablet full of crude gags and riddles about beer is found – dating back to Exodus
- (EXTRA) What a difference a couple of degrees makes..: National Post/Postmedia News – Quebec woman was ‘cooked to death’ at retreat, coroner says
- (EXTRA) Maybe they were lost for a reason?: io9 – Technologies that we’ve lost — and the quest to find them again
- It’s a Jungle Out There (And In There, Too):
- (EXTRA) And yet, they’re all basically the same as what we’ve seen before, just with different marketing plans..: BBC – Suriname team find 46 new species in tropical forests
- Was it subtitled “Life.. Don’t talk to me about Life!”? Or is this another Voynich Manuscript?: io9 – Biochemist publishes a paper solving the mystery of life, but no one understands it
- (EXTRA) Who knew that moss liked the cold? 🙂: New Scientist – First land plants plunged Earth into ice age
- (EXTRA) Unfortunately, it’s is *still* not made from giraffes or tigers..: Metro – Sainsbury’s tiger bread renamed giraffe bread after letter from girl, 3
- Sometimes, the Internet is a weird and bizarre place..: Metro – ‘Breading’: The bizarre new internet cat craze causing a stir online
- It’s like your own personal protable lawn..: Orange – Back to nature with grass flip-flops
- (EXTRA) It’s not so much an apocalypse, as an annoyalypse..: New Scientist – Earth in for bumpy ride as solar storms hit
- (EXTRA) For some reason, there’s a dismissive tone in the article because the child doesn’t *actually* have cat eyes..: The Huffington Post – ‘Cat-Eye’ Boy Video Said To Show Chinese Child Who Sees In Dark
- Could we have cooperated on this planet? Or was there always going to be some one single species on top?: MSNBC – What if there were another advanced species?
- (EXTRA) Are we really so certain that we know everything that lives in the jungle?: BBC – Mashco-Piro ‘uncontacted’ Peruvian tribe pictured
- (EXTRA) And *this* is why the Neanderthal’s lost!: The UK Telegraph – Toddler chews head off snake
- (EXTRA) And this may be one of the reasons we’re doomed to fall *off* of the top of the chain..: The UK Telegraph – ‘Jedi’ jailed for attacking police with light sabers
- (EXTRA) From one battlefield to another..: Los Angeles Times – LAPD cracks down on drone aircraft use by real estate agents
- (EXTRA) He got caught flat-footed trying to fence the ice, Mac..: The UK Guardian – Glacier thief arrested in Chile
- So, without physical causes, what causes it? Or is this an example of Munchausen By Internet Proxy?: The Washington Post/AP – All in their heads? CDC finds no physical cause for strange creepy-crawly affliction
- (EXTRA) Well, that’s a new treatment to me!: The UK Daily Mail – Cured: Girl, 4, saved from life-threatening nosebleed after salted pork is put up her nostrils
- Normally, inanimate objects just stand for something; now, they speak for something..: Huffington Post – Muppets Diss Fox News In Response To Accusations Of Being Anti-Oil
- (EXTRA) Another reminder that SETI is not quite dead yet! And also to update us on… nothing, really.. (Someone had column space to fill!): The India Times – Search for aliens is on again, but next quest is finding money
- Extras:
- (EXTRA) It’s really about him *talking* about these things (and others), not that he’s been hooked up to some mad scientist’s device..: Skeptico – 159. Stanton Friedman on Extended Human Consciousness and Mind Control
- (EXTRA) It’s easy to snicker at — until the mention of being tied up and beaten is added.: Orange – Thief stole virtual amulet from gamer
- (EXTRA) Who ya gonna call? (And no: Presbyterians don’t count, apparently..): Simcoe.com/DidUHear – Minister calls for help in ghost-busting
- (EXTRA) “Invading” might be a little strong here, although “drifting aimlessly and roughly in the direction of” is a little wordy..: National Geographic – “Alien” Particles Found Invading Our Solar System-A First
- (EXTRA) There is *nothing* LEGO can’t do.. Now I want a LEGO real space ship design..: The UK Telegraph – Lego man sent to space
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