Disasters
French-film-inspired Terrorism?
Given that Najibullah Zazi seems to have been planning terrorist assaults on the NYC subway system, is it possible he got his inspiration from a surname-related French New Wave film Zazie dans le métro?
I entirely blame avant-garde author of the original novel, Raymond Queneau.
You can never trust these artsy types!
UPDATE: this clip from the film looks awfully suspicious to me!
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 23, 2009 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Destruction, Disasters, Movies, Terrorism and Terrorists, 1960s, Europe
The Great Wall of Africa?
Problem: Desertification (when viable land is encroached upon by desert) threatens the lives of millions of people in Africa. Solution: Build a wall to keep the desert from spreading. According to architect Magnus Larson, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. Take sand dunes at the edge of the desert, combine them with a mixture of water and bacteria, let dry and you've got an instant sandstone wall! Read all about it at BBC news.
Posted By: fyshstyxx - Tue Jul 28, 2009 -
Comments (5)
Category: Architecture, Disasters, Science, Africa
Vorsprung Durch Technik?
An accident on Germany's A2 autobahn involving 259 cars has left 66 people injured, 10 of them seriously, but incredibly resulted in no deaths.The pile-up occurred in the late evening, when a combination of heavy rain and a setting sun hampered the drivers' vision and made the road conditions slippery. The first accident happened near Hamelerwald, and began a cascade of other accidents that over the next two hours grew to span a 30 kilometre stretch of road. It finally took 340 emergency workers well into the next morning to finish dealing with the people and vehicles involved and the clean-up cost is expected to exceed 1.75 million Euros, i.e. $2.5 million (NY Daily News).
Posted By: Dumbfounded - Sat Jul 25, 2009 -
Comments (7)
Category: Accidents, Destruction, Disasters, Motor Vehicles, Cars
Beware the Worm Lizard!
Every day the news brings me reports of some horrible locale outside my safe and beloved New England, where people are subject to floods, volcanoes, earthquakes--and "worm lizards"...?!?Yes, it's not bad enough that the poor citizens of a certain region in Brazil have to battle flooding, they also have to contend with the evil Worm Lizard!
You can read about their troubles here. The key sentence:
Like 218,000 others across a swath of northern Brazil three times the size of Alaska, the neighbors have fled the worst rainfall and flooding in decades, braving newly formed rivers teeming with anacondas, alligators and legless reptiles known as "worm lizards" whose bite is excruciating.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 10, 2009 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Death, Destruction, Disasters, Horror, South America, Natural Wonders, Weather
The Big Snit
Personally, I would happily watch a TV show titled "Sawing for Teens."
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 02, 2009 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death, Destruction, Disasters, Domestic, Marriage, Games, War, 1980s, North America
23 Skidoo
Civilization without any humans is pretty darn weird.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 29, 2009 -
Comments (15)
Category: Destruction, Disasters, Movies, Science Fiction, 1960s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Pig Farms
Sure, we all love bacon! But who wants to live next to a pig farm? Not these folks in Massachusetts, who, according to today's Boston Globe (registration required), suffer smells like those "at the bottom of a dumpster." But this new Congressional report finds the EPA ready to relax their rules for such farms.
Here's an article about a manure lagoon spill in 2005 that released 3 million gallons of pig poop!
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 24, 2008 -
Comments (12)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Bathrooms, Disasters, Food, Scatology, Lawsuits, Excrement
Survival Under Atomic Attack
A reader named John, commenting on the WHY STUDY SCIENCE? thread, asked to see a film about surviving atomic attack. Here it is, John!(There's no static image on the screen, but just click the PLAY button on the bottom of the viewing window.)
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 24, 2008 -
Comments (8)
Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, Disasters, History, Military, Movies, Patriotism, Technology, War, Weapons, Reader Recommendation, 1950s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Life Imitates Cheesy Science Fiction Film
As we learn in this article from today's New York Times, conditions in hurricane-wracked Galveston, Texas, have begun to approach the scenario depicted in the latest remake of I AM LEGEND.As crews hacked away at downed trees and replaced blown-out transformers and cut lines, state and local officials contended with a plethora of other problems, among them a tiger on the loose.
James D. Yarbrough, the Galveston County judge, said a pet tiger, well known to locals, had escaped during the storm and was wandering the ruins of houses on Bolivar Peninsula. “I understand he’s hungry, so we are staying away from him,” Mr. Yarbrough said.
You'll see Will Smith's similar encounter at approximately the one-minute mark in the trailer below.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 17, 2008 -
Comments (13)
Category: Animals, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Death, Disasters, Guns, Movies, Nature, Pets, Dogs, Science Fiction, Actors
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |