Weekly Weird News for 29 September 2023

Hi everyone. I’m happy to present the weekly roundup of news stories that are a bit weird, maybe scary, but par for the course in these strange times. So let’s get going.

EDIT: As soon as I hit publish, I knew I used the wrong date. That’s corrected here.

Flamingos in Wisconsin

?!? Yes, the headline isn’t lying. Flamingos weren’t at the zoo either; they were on a Lake Michigan beach north of Milwaukee. Recall a few weeks ago, flamingos were shunted far north due to the hurricane winds. But this is REALLY north. It’s practically Canada (it’s equivalent latitude to the Southernmost parts of Ontario). The five birds include two juveniles. That’s some summer vacation! https://apnews.com/article/flamingos-wisconsin-lake-michigan-beach-614fabe236ce2f2da86b12e1edb4510a

Deadly alligator scene

I saw this story last week but the details weren’t clear. This week, more has come to light about an incident where an alligator in Florida was found with body parts in its mouth. The 13 ft long gator was discovered, and then shot, in Pinellas County, near Ridgecrest Park, after observers reported a body in the water. The deceased was identified as a 41 yr old woman. Later, it was revealed that she was homeless and slept in this park near the place where her remains were found. It is not yet clear if she died from some other cause or was killed by the alligator but there is no question that alligators will consume people if given the opportunity. Such a large carnivorous creature living in a heavily populated area is a serious problem. https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2023/09/26/gator-death-body-found-alligator-ridgecrest-park-largo/

Alligator denied entrance to the Phillies game

Rolling off that tragic previous story, we have this absurdity from Pennsylvania. A pet alligator, said to be “domesticated” was stopped from attending a Phillies’ baseball game in Philadelphia. The animal, 5 ft long Wally, is called an emotional support animal and is used for education and presentations. This was an extremely sensible and obvious choice by ballpark officials. They stated that, "Certified service dogs or service dogs in training for guests with special needs are welcome. All other animals are prohibited." Sensible. An alligator, or any other personal support animal that is not serving the individual should not be allowed in this crowded area. There are plenty of good reasons to prohibit animals, especially wild animals (alligators aren’t domesticated), from access. But, this made waves with Wally’s fans. Stop it with the deliberate stunts. It’s a friggin’ alligator. It has no place at this event. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/09/27/wally-emotional-support-alligator-denied-phillies-game/70986946007/

Don’t take this out to the ball game. Don’t take this out in a crowd.

RNA from thylacines

The extinct Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine is top of the list for animals some people want to see cloned (along with mammoths), possibly because people unnecessarily exterminated the dwindling numbers in the early 20th century. Scientists report that they have successfully extracted RNA from a mummified specimen. RNA is harder to get because it degrades faster. RNA provides information on how genes are expressed. (Even though genes exist in the DNA, we can’t tell if and how they will be expressed in the individual or population.) This research finding will tell us more about the animal. Surprisingly, the researchers discovered some virus that were hosted by the animal as well. This notice came out last week and I didn’t include it in the WWN then because it wasn’t “weird”. But in the past week, several mainstream articles (USA Today, in particular) that claim the finding may pave the way for the cloning of the thylacine. The original article says nothing about that, but it shows how it takes about a week for popular news sources to seize on a science story and twist it into clickbait. I am fairly certain that making cloning easier was not a goal of this research study. Cloning an extinct animal is fraught with serious problems. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02953-3

Fairy circles still mysterious

There remains dispute, still, about what causes “fairy circles” in the Namib Desert of Africa. Some say the circular patches with no vegetation are caused by termites, soil drainage, or from plants chemical residue. As this phenomenon is being studied, researchers have found the ordered pattern occurring in other places around the world and determined that they most often found in hot, arid deserts with sandy soil low in nitrogen. Annual rainfall of four to 12 inches seems consistent. Unfortunately, the definition of “fairy circle” is not clear because the cause is not clear. So the scientific arguments continue - because that’s how science works. Also hampering the solution is that these places are hard to get to for study. https://www.sciencealert.com/atlas-of-mysterious-fairy-circles-shows-theyre-more-widespread-than-we-thought and https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/science/fairy-circles-satellite-images.html

Salty NOLA

The now-unfortunately-located city of New Orleans always seems to have too much water. But now they don’t have enough. The ongoing drought in the Mississippi Valley has led to dwindling flows (as noted in a recent Weekly Weird Newsletter). The drought has also resulted in groundwater being depleted from aquifers. Aquifers are recharged by precipitation and sometimes by the overland flow from rivers and streams. When there is no water on the surface, the subsurface becomes depleted. As the “sweet” water is sucked out of the ground, the nearby salt water (on the surface and subsequently under it) takes its place. When you start pumping out salt water from your drinking well, you are in big trouble. Only big rains can reverse the issue. The city is getting close to this salt water intrusion point, and it could last for three months. Plans are afoot to pipe water. This is an indication that more places will have this issue, as salt water or no water at all means overland piping of usable water from the areas that have a lot of rainfall. Or, desalination plants. Both options are very expensive. https://www.nola.com/news/environment/new-orleans-prepares-for-three-months-of-salt-intrusion/article_03452ac2-5d64-11ee-ba66-2fb982d2b7c1.html and https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/new-orleans-braces-drinking-water-emergency-drought-stricken-mississip-rcna117218

What happens when you are mistakenly declared dead?

A woman in St. Louis discovered decades ago that a mistake resulted in her name and information put on the Death Master File used by institutions for checking credit and benefits. Madeline-Michelle Carthen has been trying to fix the problem but has had little luck. She even filed a lawsuit against the government. The agencies who maintain the list of deceased persons say they have very good records and this kind of mess up is rare. Carthen sought help from the local TV news station to try to make headway. It falls on the victim to prove they are not dead and who they say they are. The best advice is to check your credit reports at least annually and follow up as soon as possible on questionable information on those reports. Set a date on your calendar as a reminder to do this regularly. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/wrongly-declared-dead-social-security-what-to-do/63-36405434-6c73-4fb3-927b-243871dddc15

AI continues to create chaos

Here’s something new that AI can do - generate images that appear to have a hidden visual message. And it’s riling up conspiracy-leaning people who think the messages are meant to influence society. You can use AI to produce visual illusions, that is, to put logos or words into the generator to product depictions of these items in the images. They are subtle but there. However, sometimes they AREN’T there. It’s well-known that people see things that are in their minds but aren’t deliberate patterns. Subliminal messaging is not a thing. You don’t incorporate the message if you don’t consciously view it. So the cats that appear to spell out “Gaysex” (you have to really use your imagination) don’t actually influence acceptance of the word or concept. People are more complex than that. But watch for this tech to be a big deal with reactionary folks. https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7by5a/ai-generated-subliminal-messages-are-going-viral-heres-whats-really-going-on and https://www.creativebloq.com/news/ai-optical-illusion-subliminal-messages

To see how these work (or don’t) check out this link for more examples. https://www.laptopmag.com/software/ai-art-could-contain-subliminal-messaging-can-you-spot-it

And here is a tip to see the word - squint.

Church warriors?

A secretive church is buying up property and buildings in Warrior, Alabama, making locals nervous. In the past two and half years, an organization called Church International has bought up about 20 parcels of property in Warrior, north of Birmingham for several million dollars. The state of Alabama is investigating the church regarding their non-profit tax records because it’s not clear where the money is coming from. People associated with the church are moving into town. The claim from them is that they are going to revitalize it but locals don’t trust them. I wouldn’t either. The church was known for speaking about Trump winning the election and the country entering into spiritual warfare. They are led by a “prophet” whose message are about the Democratic anti-Christ and the rise of armies of homosexuals. They were present at the January 6 attack on the Capital and attempted overthrow of democracy. Would you trust a coordinate group like that? I don’t doubt the town name has everything to do with this. https://www.al.com/news/2023/09/the-mysterious-church-buying-up-a-town-in-alabama-what-is-it-about-warrior.html-2

That’s it for this week. See you next time!

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