In order to advance medical knowledge, Dr. Stephen Sulkes and a handful of volunteers ate Hydrox cookies and later checked to see if their poop had turned black. It had. They named this phenomenon 'Hydrox Fecalis.' Their results were published in the
New England Journal of Medicine (Jan 5, 1984). Reproduced below:
To the Editor:
The presence of dark stools can be a cause of consternation to the patient and is made more anxiety-producing when accompanied by abdominal pain or other discomfort. The causes of melena are well outlined in several reviews, along with the usual non-heme causes of black stools, including iron, bismuth, charcoal, licorice, and certain fruits.
To this list should be added the colorings present in chocolate sandwich cookies. In several independent tests (with myself and several volunteers as experimental subjects), the presence of black stools approximately 18 to 24 hours after ingestion of 225 to 450 g of chocolate sandwich cookies has been observed. Variation in brand of cookie did not change the stool character. Testing with other types of cookie (oatmeal, peanut butter, and chocolate chip, among others) has not resulted in the same stool findings, although abdominal pain or nausea or both appear to be equally frequent associations.
This phenomenon may be on the increase because of shifts in U.S. dietary habits, so elicitation of a good dietary history in cases of black stools and abdominal pain should be pursued. Inasmuch as "cookie-induced pseudomelena" is both unprofessional sounding and too appropriately descriptive, a suggested name for this entity is "Hydrox fecalis."
Stephen Sulkes, M.D.
Monroe Developmental Disabilities
Rochester, N.Y.
Someone needs to repeat the experiment with Oreo cookies.
In 1926, Philip S. Kane of Pennsylvania received a patent for his "fuse ball" (
Patent No. 1,583,721). It was a golf ball with a fuse. Before teeing off, you'd light the fuse, which would then start emitting smoke. That way, you could find the ball wherever you hit it, even if it landed in tall grass.
According to various media reports, while testing his ball Kane accidentally set a wheat field on fire, but I haven't seen any proof to back up that story.
Automatic fingernail painter? What's your guess?
The answer is here.
Or after the jump.
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January 1985: The women of the Thurlow family proved they were serious fans of the TV show
St. Elsewhere. Even as their house burned down around them, they remained parked in front of the TV set, watching the latest episode through the haze of the smoke, unwilling to miss a single moment. The firefighters had to drag them away. But as soon as the fire was extinguished, the women rushed back into the house and were able to catch the final 10 minutes.
![](https://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2015/1985watchtv.jpg)
Ocala Star-Banner - Jan 23, 1985
This group was founded in 1979 and later changed its name — but not because they were concerned that the name sounded oddly contradictory. Instead, they wanted to avoid being confused with the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. The group is now known as the Indo-American Psychiatric Association.
Details from its website:
In the fall of 1979, six psychiatrists of Indian origin from the metropolitan area of New York City met to discuss the need of an organization that would address the professional needs and interests of psychiatrists from India.
It was estimated at that time that there were approximately 1000‐1200 psychiatrists of Indian origin practicing or in training in the US.
The group also agreed that the organization should include all mental health professionals interested in the vision and mission of this organization.
This group started out as a professional, educational and social group.
The organization was named as the American Association of Psychiatrists from India (AAPI).
In his 1972 documentary,
Can You Speak Venusian?, the British astronomer Patrick Moore examined the astronomical theories of various "independent thinkers" — otherwise known as kooks. It's probably now the only footage of most of these odd folks, talking about their odd ideas. Moore released an accompanying book of the same name.
My favorite of his independent thinkers is John Bradbury and his 15-lens telescope, viewable at around the 15:30 mark. His basic idea was that if two lenses are good, then fifteen must be even better. Bradbury claimed his telescope was so powerful that it could show "the actual background casing of the universe."
![](https://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2022/venusian.jpg)
source: Can you speak Venusian?
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The object of the game is to capture the Public Enemy. The player who brings a G-Man together with the Public Enemy wins the game. The game starts with one G-Man chasing the public enemy, but after 30 minutes a second can be brought into play.
More pix and info here.
Melvin Purvis at Wikipedia.