Weekly Weird News for September 10, 2021
We suffer for lack of science reporters!
Welcome to new subscribers. Thanks for joining in on a weekly roundup of strange, offbeat news especially curated to clue you in on the fringe events of our time. This is only worth it if it spreads far beyond the small group. Please share or suggest this to other people or groups with which you interact.
Speaking of clues, let's start out with a return of Steve from Blue's Clues, an actor whose abrupt disappearance spawned some urban legends.
Steve’s not dead
Many of you will be a bit too old to have been in the intended audience of the Nickelodeon show Blue's Clues (aiming for 3 to 6-year-olds beginning in 1996) but maybe your children watched it, as mine did. This was not a dumb show. Its aim was to teach kids to observe and think. The first host, Steve, disappeared off the show rather suddenly which sparked a flurry of rather mean rumors that he died - in a car crash, from a heroin overdose, etc. This week, for the 25th anniversary of the show, he returned to social media to reconnect with his audience, now adults, some with kids of their own, to and explain (sort of) why he left and give closure to that time in their lives. It turns out Steve Burns left the show because he had enough of being the dog's sidekick, he wanted to try new things, and, he was reluctant to continue the role because he was losing his hair. Man, that is real life right there. It was sure good to hear from Steve. Lots of people really loved it. https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/blues-clues-steve-burns-departure-1235058414/
Over-zealous claims of earthquake lights
A big story of the week was an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 in Mexico, near Acapulco. Mexico regularly experiences earthquakes (and volcanoes), being bordered by active plate boundaries on its western and southern sides. As with the event that happened in 2017, the quake was followed by people saying they saw flashing lights in the sky. Earthquake lights are a very poorly documented geo-atmospheric phenomenon without an established mechanism. So, the public videos (and the media) who are calling these flashes "earthquake lights" are almost certainly mistaken. The flashes are certainly some downed wires and electrical transformers sparking and arcing. But a storm may also be to blame. Check out my Spooky Geology piece on this event and my feature on earthquake lights.
It's common for me to find even what one would think are reputable news outlets putting up clickbait headlines with buzzwords. Reuters did that with their coverage of the Mexico earthquake "lightning". Even though they put the facts near the end, people are less likely to read that far and more likely to just absorb and repeat the headline. So, it's really irresponsible to do this:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/apocalypse-rare-lightning-adds-quake-awe-mexico-2021-09-08/
NPR also did a poor job even though they interviewed scientists. I think the reporter was to blame for misinterpreting their comments and promoting the local folk belief that more earthquakes happen in September, which isn’t true. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035335407/first-came-a-quake-in-mexico-then-strange-blue-lights-people-feared-the-apocalyp
Mexico is a good bet for catastrophes. They have the potential for plenty of devastating quakes, volcanoes, droughts and storms.
End times websites love to exaggerate the consequences of an earthquake near a populated area by suggesting the apocalypse is upon us. The Volcano Discovery site reminds us that sometimes world seismic activity is high but it goes back down randomly. 2021 is not unique to the several past years. https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes/global-seismic-activity-level.html
False alarm of quake in British Columbia
I’ll admit when I saw the USGS notice of 6.5 quake in British Columbia in my email on Monday, I was concerned. When I clicked on the info, I found that the event was an error and had been deleted. Whew! That was good news. The system recorded a false alarm in a seismically active area. The terribly misleading “earth changes” websites, who deal in fear mongering about geologic events in general, took this as a sign that the USGS doesn’t know what they are doing. Obviously there were no reports of the event so it didn’t really happen but, considering the extent some people will go to maintain their warped view of science and the government, I would not have been the least surprised if they claimed the event was covered up. It’s not altogether clear what happened but the agency who tracks quakes was quick to realize the error and address it. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/computer-glitch-led-to-false-reports-about-earthquake-in-b-c-1.6166417
Here comes another one of them superstorm apocalypses
LiveScience/ScienceAlert posted an over-dramatic headline "The Next Solar Superstorm Could Unleash a Global 'Internet Apocalypse' Lasting Months" Wow - "superstorm" and "apocalypse" in the same tweet from a science-based source. This must be serious! The source was LiveScience who changed the heading to the slightly less catastrophic "An 'Internet apocalypse' could ride to Earth with the next solar storm, new research warns". Again, people might just pick up on the headline and not understand what the message really is about. But the article was not great either. The "apocalypse" quote came from a researcher who presented it at a conference. Conference talks often make the news because they can be speculative and are presented as an attention-grabbing splash at a professional event like this. The paper has not yet been published. The content, however, is probably legit - a solar storm event that is aimed at earth would be bad. But the news was not all dismal since the researcher found that optical fibers and grounded cables were locally protected pretty well. It was the large undersea cables that were vulnerable. I’m not going to like to the LiveScience piece because it’s crap - see this Wired piece for more. (Sad that they also use "apocalypse, but, jeez, whatever...) https://www.wired.com/story/solar-storm-internet-apocalypse-undersea-cables/
Shapeshifting is the Millenial word for evolution
Another example of bad headlines prompted by the researchers themselves:
Shapeshifting is a loaded term that connotes a magical or occult transformation of a human to an animal form (and back again). Think werewolf or skinwalkers. In this article, the animals are simply changing in response to environmental pressures as populations do but the researchers went with a baited title. I think that’s a bit icky and misleading. Note that the site "Interesting Engineering" called this research "alarming" and "evidence of an impending calamity". Maybe the use of a term with an alternative meaning was not a great choice. It does, however, get them extra attention. The story that is simply a reflection of evolution doing its thing got mainstream media coverage. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/07/world/animals-climate-change-shape-shift-scn/index.html
Tennessee boom town
A big boom rocked residents of Montgomery County, Tennessee at 9:50 PM Saturday. Tennessee does experience small quakes but this did not appear to be a quake as home videos revealed it sounded very much like an explosion. Many calls came into the emergency dispatch but no source of the sound was found. No damage was reported. Some residents say they heard this stuff before. Others say it was accompanied by a flash. A few others speculate really bizarre geological causes like a mine or cave collapse because of the limestone in the area. (That's not plausible without associated evidence.) People love wildly guessing about this stuff. But, considering that it was Labor Day weekend, it could have been a detonated device of some kind. Check out this video with sound where you can hear a distinct "crack" before the rumbling that would rule out a shallow earthquake - something blew up. Unfortunately, the police sparked more than little concern when they said it was "some sort of unknown phenomena". Ooo, once again, bad choice of words. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article254040103.html
Zoo animals gone wild
Zoo animals were eager for vacations this past week. A rhinoceros escaped an enclosure at the Nebraska zoo. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/09/08/Henry-Doorly-Zoo-and-Aquarium-Omaha-Nebraska-rhino-escape-Jontu/1851631121456/
A Bengal tiger caused a little bit of chaos when he found a hole in the fenced area. Visitors were evacuated from the Indian zoo. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/09/03/india-tiger-escape-Nandankanan-Zoological-Park-Bhubaneswar/3571630701030/
Both animals were corralled in short order.
Six zebras took a tour of suburban DC to see if the grass was really greener on the other side of the fence at a private reserve. Locals in Upper Marlboro, Maryland were shocked at seeing zebras in the woods. The animals are chillin' in a field for now as plans are made to return them to the owner. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/zebras-spotted-in-prince-georges-county/2794497/
This flap of animals on the run comes after a rumor that many animals, including lions and gorillas, escaped the Essex County Turtle Back zoo in New Jersey during the devastating rains from Ida last week. This rumor was false. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/09/03/Turtle-Back-Zoo-Essex-County-New-Jersey-Tropical-Storm-Ida-no-escape/4531630688169/
Wayward dolphin in Louisiana rescued
Update from a story last week: The dolphin that was lost in a Louisiana water system after the storm was rescued after it got stranded in a pond, as mentioned in the last Weekly Weird News. The animal was uninjured and returned to the sea. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/09/07/Hurricane-Ida-dolphin-Slidell-Louisiana-rescued-SeaWorld/6791631043145/
This guy picked the entirely wrong path in life
A catholic bishop who conducted exorcisms in Spain has "resigned after reportedly falling in love with an author of satanic-themed erotic fiction, sparking fears among his former Catholic colleagues that he has been possessed by the devil." That was just too neatly summarized so I had to quote it. The church said obviously it's not because of the church's code of sexual repression but because he was infested by demons. OK, then. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/09/07/spanish-bishop-resigns-falling-love-author-satanic-themed-erotic/ (turn off JavaScript to access)
The Internet feels inhuman
A piece in The Atlantic this week discusses the fringe idea that the internet is no longer run by people intereacting with each other but by artificial intelligence. It’s the “dead internet” conspiracy theory. This one has a grain of truth. There are a huge number of bots that pollute conversation and comments. Such commenters sure don’t sound human as they say the most inhumane and mean things because there is little recourse to being a troll. We certainly know that considerable information from the internet is manufactured, fake, and has deepfakes deliberately constructed as propaganda. But the “dead internet” theory makes no sense. People clearly produce the content and interact online providing details and nuances that bots can’t render effectively. It’s a silly idea by some silly troll, who, ironically, is probably a fake account that may use AI. The bottom line is, don’t trust the info you get out of hand. Confirm it. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/08/dead-internet-theory-wrong-but-feels-true/619937/
Mysterious light pillar or ghost building?
It was just the fog.
Promises that didn’t deliver
Curation means I don't post the dregs that promise something great but disappoint. There was a slew of stories that aimed high this week but were ultimately nothing-burgers, so they didn’t make the cut to appear here. These include: Loch Ness sonar sighting, ghostly activity filmed at Welsh pub, ghost ball rolls away from dog, alien statue head spotted on Mars, guy believes Yowies live around Perth. I checked these out so you don't have to. They were clear hoaxes or mistakes, all unimpressive and forgettable. You can google them if you want but I would advise you do something more productive, like organize your sock drawer or clean the cat box instead.
Finally, it’s been a bummer that my featured post on earthquake lights at Spooky Geology, and even my tweets about it, got basicallly no attention amidst the media hype about this topic. Instead, people mostly stuck to their silos of information and absorb the more dramatic but inaccurate view. Worse, they pass it on. They are curious but only mildly; few people are willing to seek out new views and only see them if they are deliberately put in front of their eyes. If you have ideas on how I can get more eyeballs, please let me know. Being the sole proprietor of this enterprise, it’s tough to make progress in a world of paid ad placement and well-funded influencers. I’d greately appreciate if you could put in a good word about my work whereever you can. Pass on the GOOD info. We must keep doing that. Thanks and keep being real.
Back in 1987 in the UK a really intense storm brought power lines down. The resulting flashes I witnessed looked very much like the earthquake light footage.
Also why do they use the same image of the Sun for every solar storm story. There's so many fantastic Solar images yet that one is the go to image it seems.