sword-billed hummingbird » News of the Weird

An understandable mistake

Ben — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:08:04 +0000

A reply to a question in Notes & Queries yesterday recommended purchasing lion and tiger urine from Chester Zoo to stop neighbourhood cats from urinating in a vegetable patch (G2, page 17). Chester Zoo would like to forestall requests for its big cats’ urine: it asks us to make clear that it does not in fact sell either tiger or lion urine. Many years ago the zoo sold elephant dung, but it no longer does.

(via Regret the Error)

Aliens, astronomers, or super-intelligent aardvarks?

Ben — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:22:00 +0000

You decide. Whatever the case, it’s kind of amazing.

(via Ectoplasmosis)

Wait, what?

Ben — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:45:36 +0000

(via Ectoplasmosis)

For the record

Ben — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:36:36 +0000

We accidentally referred to a “stellar sea lion” (29 November, p 6). The featured mammal is a Steller’s sea lion.

All in good time, all in good time.

(via Regret The Error)

On elusiveness, and the possibilities of cryptids

Ben — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:27:15 +0000

DNR spokesman Hoy Murphy says Casell has a permit for the tiger. And Murphy notes this isnâ€™t the first time Casellâ€™s dealt with an escape: a 400-pound Asian brown bear got loose in May 2006 and hasnâ€™t been seen since.

(Herald Dispatch [1 Dec 2008], via Cryptomundo)

Scientific understatement of 2008

Ben — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:23:43 +0000

Quote:

“One might be able to envision potential applications ranging from medical interventions to use in video gaming or the creation of artificial memories along the lines of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in ‘Total Recall.’ Imagine taking a vacation without actually going anywhere?

“Obviously, we need to conduct further research and development…”

(via io9, via EurekAlert: “Ultrasound shown to exert remote control of brain circuits” [29 Oct 2008])

Robots of the future, break out of your cells

Ben — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:40:23 +0000

Say what you will of Lockheed-Martin’s take on Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles-as-documentary; this proof-of-concept (if that’s the right phrasing) test video is eerily captivating.

(References: http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/mdalink.html, http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/12/killing_robot_b.html, http://www.thirdeyeconcept.com/news/index.php?page=336)

Shocking!

Ben — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:12:05 +0000

Criggo is my new favorite frivolous blog indulgence.

A natural progression

Ben — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:02:42 +0000

As we become too lazy to do our own work, we send technologically augmented turtles and seals to be our detectives and scientists.

(via BoingBoing and NewScientist)

Not the best track record

Ben — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:37:13 +0000

Which is, really, fortunate.

“10 other dates when the world failed to end.”

One of my favorites:

Sept 11-13 1988 – Former Nasa engineer Edgar Whisenant sold 4.5 million copies of his book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be in 1988, mostly to evangelical US Christians. Follow-up works, which revised the prediction for dates in the 1990s, failed to sell as well.

Shocking! (Emphasis added.)

Also, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be “March 1997″ and not “Match 1997″.

(via Monochrom)