Weekly Weird News for 30 March 2023
Hello, everyone. It’s great that you could join me for a week that was so chock full of interesting stories, I had to cut a few out. Let’s get right to it!
Bitten by a ringer
The New South Wales ambulance service reported that they responded to a call of a woman bitten twice by a blue-ringed octopus near Sydney, Australia. The tetrodotoxin of this animal is one of the most powerful on earth, and can paralyze and kill people in less than an hour. But the woman didn’t die. She didn’t even have serious symptoms. She had a bit of abdominal pain - where she was bitten - but that’s all. Best guess is that no toxin was released in the bite. https://www.livescience.com/blue-ringed-octopus-one-of-the-most-toxic-animals-on-earth-bites-woman-multiple-times
Seafloor mystery solved there but not over here
Back in July of last year, I included a story in the Weekly Weird News about a mysterious line of holes found on the seafloor in the Azores. Scientists had published a paper on the observation. They did not know what created the holes. Some burrowing organism was suspected. At the same time, a research team in the Bering Sea also spotted similar holes. However, their mystery has been solved. The holes in that instance were attributable to an amphipod that researcher suspect is “eat-digging” - burrowing through the sediment and forming an elongate tunnel with openings. Unfortunately, the structure is not sufficiently similar to what was found in the Azores. So, that mystery remains. https://defector.com/one-creator-of-mysterious-seafloor-holes-is-revealed-but-other-remains-at-large
Tonight there’s gonna be a zoo-break
On to the now regular reports of zoo escapes. At least the news is mostly good this week.
A Steller's sea eagle escaped from Zoo Veldhoven in the Netherlands through a hole in the mesh that lined the enclosure’s. The bird was recaptured when she was lured back with a meal. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/29/netherlands-Zoo-Veldhoven-Stellers-sea-eagle-recaptured/8701680109231/
Six pied birds escaped from the Oakland (CA) zoo last week after a tree fell on the aviary. Several were recaptured right away. A pied crow appeared on a porch in a residential area. Zoo officials were able to recapture the bird after letting it go into the house. Another pied crow is still missing. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/27/Oakland-Zoo-pied-crow-captured-front-porch-escaped-birds/9601679928880/
Check out the video of getting the crow into the house: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=743454767330650
Animal enclosures were breached from tornado damage in Georgia and two tigers escaped. The animals were found after a brief search and were sedated and returned. Seems like there aren’t enough emergency precautions taken at zoos for dangerous weather. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/26/us/georgia-weather-tornado-tiger-loose-trnd/index.html
Volcano smoke rings
Scientists have collected observations of volcanoes that blow smoke rings. They have determined that bursting gas bubbles produce the rings that emerge from volcanic craters. Only certain locations produce the vapor rings that are typically white and last up to 10 minutes. This is a great story about how a rare thing can be observed and potential explained. Thus, it gets legitimized as a real natural phenomenon, and not just a myth. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/science/volcanoes-smoke-rings-vapor.html
Moscow smoke rings
A video said to have been taken in Moscow shows a black smoke ring hovering in the sky. Not the most credible source, the smoke rings were reported by Newsweek. Other videos then appeared to show the same thing. Was it real? It’s not clear. Idiot commenters tripped over themselves to say dumb things on as usual (but that’s all Twitter is these days.) The videos could be faked. But it’s not “aliens” or some weird weapon. As noted above, smoke rings can be produced by explosions - either from natural objects like volcanoes or from fireworks or artillery firing. https://www.newsweek.com/viral-video-russia-black-circle-flying-over-russia-smoke-ring-1790817
Did you say you were a scientist? Hmm.
Now this is embarrassing! Some marine scientists published a paper in a scientific journal in 2022 documenting the finding of a rare goblin shark on a beach in Greece. The claim was evidenced only by a photo from a man who found the creature. The scientists were excited to find this shark in these waters. But something wasn’t right. No one else had seen or examined the shark. Closer observation led most observers to say that it wasn’t a real shark but a toy. The case study was retracted. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/science/goblin-shark-plastic-toy.html
Mammoth meatball
Lab-grown, cultured meat will be the next big thing in cruelty free food. What was surprising this week was the revelation that a company cultured the meat of a mammoth using genetic information from the extinct animal and filling in the gaps with elephant data. The resulting protein is unique. And, IMO, icky. The mammoth meatball was a publicity stunt and won’t be replicated. I will gladly try cultured meat at the right time but it’s not approved for human consumption yet. https://apnews.com/article/oddities-mammoth-meatball-30e0731838f52cc18fb22d1faee1f8ce
Coded messages on baby nappies
Some QAnon dipshit started a new rumor out of thin air. Or, out of baby poop. He circled symbols on a picture of a Lion King themed Huggies diaper to kickstart a parade of paranoid nonsense about how they represent pedophilia. Yeah, this is bonkers, but so is everything that comes out of the QAnon camp. Nothing is off limits, the weirder, the better. The buzz was so much that Huggies’ manufacturer Kimberly-Clark had to address it. But they can’t get out of this morass no matter what they do. It’s the new Satanic Panic in America. https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7zaq9/qanon-huggies-conspiracy
That stylin’ Pope fauxto
Here’s something to really be paranoid about, AI news content. Most people didn’t assume the image of the Pope in a puffy coat was fake, but it totally was. Pope Francis was pictured in an unblemished, white winter parka. When I saw it, I recall thinking, “well, that’s modern times for ya”. It wasn’t a mental stretch to believe it. But it was a generated image, using the same image tool as those circulating showing the arrest of Trump. No reasonable person fell for those. (I look forward to seeing that play out on a livestream.) Once again, we have been amply schooled that photos aren’t evidence of anything. The picture was created by an image synthesis model using prompts to blend features together. As with AI text, much of the news media and information you are fed is computer-generated. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/the-power-of-ai-compels-you-to-believe-this-fake-image-of-pope-in-a-puffy-coat/ and https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/fake-ai-generated-puffer-coat-pope-photo/673543/
It’s a miracle!
The priest at a Connecticut church claims he witnessed a miracle during Communion services on March 5. One of the ministers was running low on wafers when suddenly more were there! Wow. No other explanation for that, for sure. This particular source of the article claims with confidence there have been other eucharist miracles. But none have ever been scientifically confirmed. You know, where the belief part is removed and the test is actually rigorous. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253944/priest-reports-possible-eucharistic-miracle-at-connecticut-church
Do you have the time?
The Lebanese government decided to delay the shift to daylight savings time by a month to accommodate Ramadan. But not everyone got the message. Non-Muslim politicians rejected the move. Some Christian institutions followed the normal shift with other countries which caused mass confusion at schools, airlines, and public agencies. Time shifting is a ridiculous practice that causes more harm than benefit. No one in power seems to be getting that message either. https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/daylight-saving-dispute-leaves-lebanon-with-two-time-zones-1.6329567
Realistic phone scam
It’s a known technique for scammer to make a random call and insist they have your grandchild, brother or sister, etc. held hostage for some reason and you need to pay. Lots of people fall for this, unfortunately. A new twist on the scam is to target a person beforehand and manipulate the caller profile so the call appears to be coming from their personal contact. These targeted scams cause panic and confusion for the victims who may lose money to the scammers before they call police and find out they can’t get their money back. The way to thwart the scammer is to insist you talk to the person they have “hostage” and use another device to call the person who is supposedly in trouble to confirm they are OK. Odds are that your loved one is not going to be kidnapped by a random person. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/personalized-scam-send-money_l_64257ffce4b0c8ff0404876d
Pseudo-earthquake lights
When a moderate earthquake in Afghanistan generated shaking that was felt over a wide area in neighboring countries, residents of the Haryana district of India noticed some colored lights in the sky. In Yamunanagar, several people recorded the lights in the sky soon after the quake and published these videos on social media calling them “earthquake lights” (EQLs). But they weren’t EQLs. They were lights from the local mall reflecting off the clouds. This conclusion was in easy reach by me sitting thousands of miles away. But the press in India couldn’t manage it. https://spookygeology.com/earthquake-lights-pseudoeqls-video-from-india/
Thanks for reading!
I gotta wonder how that woman got bitten on her abdomen by such a notoriously reclusive animal.
So thanks for sticking "Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy" song in my head lol