Nature
The Frank Landslide
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 20, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Destruction, Disasters, Nature, 1900s, North America
The Tree-Sitting Fad of 1930
A national craze for a short time.
Article here.
Another article.
Not everyone was cooperative, as seen below.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 25, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fads, Nature, 1930s
Woodpecker eats brains
Nature is brutal. And apparently, woodpeckers are particularly so.Smithsonian.com offers some background info:
Greeney has a possible explanation as to what’s happening—but it probably won't make you feel any better. When Gila woodpeckers get thirsty, he speculates, they crack open a couple of nestling heads like you or I might open a six-pack.
Warning: the video is not for the squeamish!
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 20, 2019 -
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Category: Nature, Violence
Glacier Rub
I guess you can't keep a good (?) idea down. Particularly poignant product name in an era of climate change.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 08, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Body, Head, Business, Advertising, Nature, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century
Follies of the Madmen #421
Perfect today for our climate-change world!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 07, 2019 -
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Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, Business, Advertising, Nature, 1960s, Alcohol
The Acrobatic Fly
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 21, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Entertainment, Nature, Twentieth Century
The Tree That Owns Itself
Recall those recent legal battles about granting new rights to animals? How about this for a precedent?From the Wikipedia page:
The Tree That Owns Itself is a white oak tree that has, according to legend, legal ownership of itself and of all land within eight feet (2.4 m) of its base. The tree, also called the Jackson Oak, is located at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets in Athens, Georgia, United States. The original tree, thought to have started life between the mid-16th and late 18th century, fell in 1942, but a new tree was grown from one of its acorns, and planted in the same location. The current tree is sometimes referred to as the Son of The Tree That Owns Itself. Both trees have appeared in numerous national publications, and the site is a local landmark.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 31, 2019 -
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Category: Law, Nature, Nineteenth Century
Unauthorized Dwellings 7
The famous author Robert Louis Stevenson spent a large part of his honeymoon squatting in an abandoned cabin.After their marriage in San Francisco on 19 May 1880, Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson set off on an adventurous honeymoon to the Napa Valley. Stopping briefly for a night in Vallejo, the Stevenson’s then boarded a train to carry them (and their dog Chuchu) to Calistoga at the northern end of the Valley. They spent the remainder of May in Calistoga, at one of the Hot Springs Hotel cottages. Then, once joined by Fanny’s son Lloyd Osbourne, the family made their way up the grade of Mount St. Helena to the Toll House, from which they found their way to the abandoned Silverado Mine bunkhouse where they would squat until the end of July.
You can read his account of that time, THE SILVERADO SQUATTERS, here.
Or, you can visit the state park named after the writer.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 18, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Buildings and Other Structures, Nature, Unauthorized Dwellings, Marriage, Nineteenth Century
Follies of the Madmen #398
Usage of this product enables user to read the mystical language of flowers.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 29, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Hygiene, Body Fluids, Languages, Nature, 1950s
The Ground Breathes
What on earth is going on here?The explanation, via IFLScience:
“During a rain and windstorm event the ground becomes saturated, 'loosening' the soil's cohesion with the roots as the wind is blowing on a tree's crown," certified arborist Mark Vanderwouw told The Weather Network.
"The wind is trying to 'push' the trees over, and as the force is transferred to the roots, the ground begins to 'heave'. If the winds were strong enough and lasted long enough more roots would start to break and eventually some of the trees would topple.”
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 04, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Nature, Natural Wonders, Weather
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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 |