Weekly Weird News for 4 August 2023

And we’re off into another roundup of interesting off-beat news for this week.

First, an update from a previous story.

Australian beach object identified

In the WWN for 21 July 2023, officials in Australia were trying to figure out what the large weird object was that washed onshore. The European Space Agency was pretty sure it was a rocket part and that has been confirmed. It was a part of a previous launch of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/mysterious-object-found-on-australian-beach-is-part-of-indias-pslv-rocket-2414110-2023-07-31

Bomb squad’s bogus journey

The bomb squad was called to a backyard in San Dimas, CA to investigate packages that landed via “parachute”. The area was temporarily evacuated. I’d have guessed botched drug drop first but it turns out the boxes were science experiments. The kits contained test tubes, one of which is labeled “Stratostar”. Since there was no additional info on any of these stories about who claimed the materials, I dug a bit deeper and found that many amateur scientists send high-altitude balloons with packages attached to collect data. Stratostar is one company that provides training and equipment. I’m not convinced this is a great idea. The sky is so crowded with various stuff these days. https://www.kcbd.com/2023/07/30/bomb-squad-investigates-mysterious-packages-parachuted-into-neighborhood/

Made of plastic, not fantastic

If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you know that every WWN is an example of news media making preventable errors and spreading misinformation. Even when news outlets retract a story, the misinformation has spread. Here is another example. Several (not highly credible) news sources fell for an elaborate hoax announcing that Mattel would make Barbie products plastic-free by 2030, including decompostable “EcoWarrior” dolls made with organic materials like mushrooms, algae and clay. Granted, this does not sound very far-fetched. But it’s not true. The source was an activist group who made the fake content featuring actress Daryl Hannah who was part of the prank. News outlets that posted stories about the dolls without checking the source included People, The Washington Times and Dow Jones Newswires. The New York Times, who posted this exposure story, spelled “decompostable” wrong in their article (“decomposable”) which I found amusing. [Sorry for the mistake- I’m the doofus who confused compost with decompose.) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/business/media/barbie-hoax-plastic-mattel-daryl-hannah.html and https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/daryl-hannah-announced-a-plastic-free-barbie-but-it-was-actually-a-hoax-heres-what-happened/ar-AA1eHX0q

Bear facts: Not a hoax

Here’s a claim of a hoax that was actually not a hoax. A video of a Malayan sun bear at a zoo in China became popular on social media when viewers, who seem to know nothing about these animals, suggested that the bear was a person in a costume. Now, hang on, there have been cases in the past where cash-strapped zoos faked their animal displays. But this was not one of those times. Sun bears are not well known to most people; they are smaller than usual bears and that do stand on their hind legs in a very upright stance like a human. In the video, we see the bear go back down on all fours and assume the bear-like movement we are used to. This seems to be a result of people, once again, spouting off with uninformed opinions just to get attention. Also of interest, bear remains that are found partial decomposed are frequently mistaken for human feet or hands. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66362970 and https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sun-bears-are-not-humans-in-disguise-but-they-deserve-to-go-viral-anyway/ar-AA1eKGf7

‘Angel’ Belief poll skews high

Recent poll results from the Associated Press showed that 7 in 10 people surveyed belief in angels. But the devil is in the details. The survey results showed the answer to the question “Do you believe in angel?” showed 69% of respondents said “Yes” and 31% said “No”. Here are some other responses about belief:

• Reincarnation - 34% yes

• Spirits of people who have died can interact with the living (ghosts) - 50% yes

• Devil/Satan - 56% yes

• Astrology (can affect people’s lives) - 34% yes

• Power of prayer - 72% yes

But the “angels” theme was the one that made the headlines in the press release. The poll also included many questions about the state of the country. The May, 2023 poll of 1,680 adults was designed to be representative of the US population but there is a twist not mentioned in the news releases. The sample was drawn from the NORC AmeriSpeak Panel, which was created to particularly target the moderate-conservative population. The poll results reveal that 78% of the respondents identified as Moderate or Conservative. That helps explain the high belief results. Various polls that include belief questions can present different results based on respondents location, age, and ideology. So this gives us a general indication that much of the US subscribes to supernatural beliefs but this poll will skew high. https://apnews.com/article/religion-poll-belief-angels-devil-bee64258d6a47067a046ba7f3c50933a Here is a link to the poll results: https://apnorc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/May-Omnibus-2023-Topline-Belief-in-Angels-.pdf

What is lost may yet be found

Maybe we might consider this a fishy tale because the evidence is a little watery. Or, it’s a lesson that one should not give up hope of finding something precious that is lost. A shrimper in the Wadden Sea who lost a valuable earring 23 years ago got it back after the piece of jewelry was hauled up in a net full of razor clams. The finder posted a picture and the earring was identified and returned to its owner, Henk Kuiper. https://www.dutchnews.nl/2023/08/shrimp-fisherman-gets-back-earring-lost-at-sea-23-years-ago/

Fermenting watermelon

A story out of Maine reveals that a watermelon purchased from a store began to extrude foam indicated gas pressure created by fermentation. This suggests the fruit had bacteria that, along with unusually warm temperatures and/or poor storage conditions, resulted in the sick fruit. The pressure can cause the fruit to explode. https://wgme.com/news/local/toxic-foaming-watermelons-are-showing-up-in-maine-fermenting-above-average-temperatures-bacteria-natural-sugars-yeast-food-safety-botulism-e-coli-salmonella

Leprosy in Florida

As if you needed yet another of the hundred reasons to avoid Florida, here is one - leprosy is becoming more common. It’s unclear how the leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, spreads. But central Florida is becoming a hot spot. Armadillos are known to carry the bacteria that causes the illness but those diagnosed have not reported encounters with those animals. The condition is often undiagnosed but the new information means that additional cases are likely to be documented. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/health/leprosy-central-florida/index.html

Swiftquake

Lumen Field in Seattle is watched by sensitive seismometers due to the potential for earthquakes here. The music and fan movement during two recent Taylor Swift shows caused the instruments to record a seismic event similar to a magnitude 2.3 earthquake. Both nights produced similar signals. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/taylor-swift-concerts-seismic-activity-180982632/

Why does the universe exist?

Finally, the James Webb telescope produced an image I think we all can relate to. A question mark-shaped object (that is unidentified, obviously) could be a distant galaxy. https://www.earth.com/news/jwst-spots-a-mysterious-question-mark-in-deep-space/

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