Weird News of the World Thread

[KevanG]

Ah, such subtleties. He should teach seminars.

 

[NickNitro]

It just blows my mind that people like this still exist. To this ridiculous extent I mean.

 

[KevanG]

You need to get out more. Check the comments on the fox news websites. p

 

[Teelie]

Anytime someone says "I'm not racist but..." you know they are a racist. He's allowed to say what he thinks, he just can't wrap his head around that no one else has to accept what he thinks.

 

[KevanG]

What if you hate everyone equally?

 

[Teelie]

You work for Fox News?

 

[KevanG]

No but I'm an avid watcher!

 

[Alex_Spider]

http://www.today.com/food/today-puts-meatless-meat-test-does-it-taste-chicken-1D79579619

Video in the link.

TODAY puts 'meatless' meat to the test: Does it taste like chicken?

Video: Some big names in technology, including Bill Gates and the founders of Twitter, think they’ve figured out a way to get the masses to eat mock meat, and they’re betting it could change the world. NBC’s Craig Melvin reports.

Bill Gates and the founders of Twitter are betting millions that meat lovers will embrace a new plant-based product that mimics the taste of chicken and beef.

Meat substitutes have had a hard time making it to the dinner tables of Americans over the years, but the tech giants believe these newest products will pass the "tastes like chicken" test. Gates has met several times with Ethan Brown, whose product, Beyond Meat, is a mash-up of proteins from peas and plants. Just don't call it "fake" meat.

Ethan Brown, here in his Missouri plant, doesn't like to call his product "fake" meat.
"I sort of bristle at the use of the word 'fake,''' Brown told TODAY's Craig Melvin during a tour of his Columbia, Mo. plant. "I just completely disagree with that. It is an assembly of amino acids, fats and water that is just like what you get out of an animal, so in my view, it is meat."

The TODAY anchors taste-tested Beyond Meat Friday to see if they could tell animal from the plant. They guessed wrong for the chicken and beef, and they are not alone: Gates blogged that he was "impressed" by Beyond Meat's chicken and couldn't tell the difference.

One creative use for Beyond Meat which, when tested by the TODAY anchors, tasted a lot like real meat.
A key ingredient comes from a pea extract that undergoes a proprietary process.

"It's just very clean, so there's no starch with it, and there's very little fat,'' Brown said about the primary ingredient. "It's all protein, so it's been extracted from the pea."

The difficulty now comes in finding a way to convince carnivores to switch.

"(Gates) said if you can drop the price of this well below meat and get international distribution, you can make a real contribution to human nutrition,'' Brown said. "For me, it's really been about getting the texture right so its seamless for people. They can put it right in their favorite dish."

The company also plans to come out with a hamburger alternative this summer. The product includes no cholesterol, hormones or trans fats.

Beyond Meat is part of a growing trend that will see more plant-based meat substitutes hitting the market.
"It's convenient because it's already cooked, so all you have to do is heat it up in a pan with a little bit of oil,'' Brown said.

Gates and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang have invested in another plant-based food-tech company with an eye towards breaking into the $177 billion meat market. San Francisco-based start-up Hampton Creek Foods also uses a plant-based formula to replicate another staple: eggs. The company recently raised more than $30 million from private investors based on the promise of its egg-less mayonnaise.

"It's growing trend,'' industry expert Brian Todd told TODAY. "More and more, they're looking to appeal to the vegetarian audience and the wider audience of consumers who are interested in healthier products."

 

[Hal_Jordan]

You work for Fox News?

Fox news certainly does not hate everyone equally.

And it's totally MLK's fault some racist nutjob like Cliven Bundy assassinated him before he could end all racism.

 

[KevanG]

Not their viewers obviously. They think they're too stupid to hate them.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Former Klansman and Jewish Community Center shooter was once caught with a black transvestite prostitute by police.

Frazier Glenn Cross, the former KKK grand dragon accused of killing three people outside a Jewish community center and a retirement community in Kansas City, Kansas, was once busted with a black transvestite prostitute, according to a new report.

The information was uncovered by WTVD-TV, while they were digging into the background of the alleged anti-Semitic gunman, who is also known as Frazier Glenn Miller.

Cross, 73, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shootings of two people at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and one person at Village Shalom Retirement Community, in Overland Park on April 13. Authorities are expected to file hate crimes charges in the coming weeks.

According to the news station, Cross was arrested in Raleigh, N.C., in the 1980s, after police caught him in the back seat of a vehicle, with a black male prostitute who was dressed as a woman.

The two men were said to be involved "in a sex act" at the time of their arrest, WTVD-TV reported.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...n_n_5213318.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

The secret tip that'll let you drink alcohol without getting drunk

Well, this could change things. Apparently there's a secret method to drinking alcohol without getting drunk. All you have to do is eat a yeast before you drink. Seriously. Line your stomach with a teaspoon of yeast for every beer you plan to drink and you'll be able to drink all night without acting like a damn fool.

The advice comes from Jim Koch, that cheery dude you see with a beer in his hand in all those Sam Adams commercials. He told Esquire that he learned the trick to eat active yeast from a master brewer friend who also had a PhD in biochemistry. Esquire explains:

You see, what Owades knew was that active dry yeast has an enzyme in it called alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH). Roughly put, ADH is able to break alcohol molecules down into their constituent parts of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Which is the same thing that happens when your body metabolizes alcohol in its liver. Owades realized if you also have that enzyme in your stomach when the alcohol first hits it, the ADH will begin breaking it down before it gets into your bloodstream and, thus, your brain.
The yeast—an active yeast like Fleischmann's would do—helps lessen the effects of alcohol and acts as a buffer for your liver. Result: You can drink more!

I'm not sure why a sane person with the ability to drink liquid would want to prevent themselves from getting drunk but I guess there are scenarios where this could be useful: a work event, a first date, your daughter's wedding, your own wedding, if you're a super lightweight, if you like the taste of alcohol more than the effect of it, if you don't like fun, etc.

Anyway. Esquire tried it and says it works. I'll have to see for myself.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/how-not-to-get-drunk

Well I for one would never use something like this but in case any of you ever need it, here it is

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

This giant fused hornet's nest looks like it swallowed a human

When you let bugs run wild inside a shed for years, you never know what you're gonna get. Like this hornet's nest that fused together with a wooden statue to look like a sand creature swallowing a trapped human head. It's haunting.

The nest is currently abandoned, so I guess the hornets moved on to build their home somewhere else. Or this is all just a trap trojan horse to sting us silly humans.

Trippy

 

[Anubis]

The secret tip that'll let you drink alcohol without getting drunk

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/how-not-to-get-drunk

Well I for one would never use something like this but in case any of you ever need it, here it is

But...the purpose of drinking alcohol IS to get drunk. This is boos**t!

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I know it boggles my mind too bro. The thing is even though you may not be drunk I doubt that you would pass a breathalyzer so I think it is kind of moot

 

[Alex_Spider]

http://humansarefree.com/2014/04/the-story-of-forgotten-wizard-nikola.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HumansAreFree+%28Humans+Are+Free%29

The Story of the Forgotten Wizard: Nikola Tesla

The article is based on David J. Kent's famous book "Tesla: Wizard of Electricity".

The names Edison, Marconi, and Westinghouse easily come to mind when electric lighting, radio, and energy are mentioned. Nikola Tesla, the inventive genius who spearheaded the development of all of these, is barely remembered. Why?

Nikola Tesla was one of the most important men of invention in history, and yet many people have never heard of him. He worked briefly for Thomas Edison, but then became his biggest rival.

He forged friendships with such divergent personalities as George Westinghouse, Mark Twain, poet Robert Underwood Johnson and his lovely wife Katherine, and naturalist John Muir, but then would reclusively hide in his darkened lab and find his closest companionship in a white pigeon.

He lit up Chicago, but almost tore down New York. A man of contrasts, Tesla became the toast of the town, but died nearly penniless in a lonely New Yorker Hotel room. Nikola Tesla was one of the most important men of invention in history, and yet many people have never heard of him.

Born during a midnight lightning storm in 1856, it seems Nikola Tesla was destined to electrify the world. Of Serbian heritage, he studied and traveled through the exotic capitals of Europe before settling in New York City and becoming an American citizen, an accomplishment he cherished for the rest of his life.

It was Tesla, teamed with George Westinghouse, who won the “war of the currents” over Thomas Edison and helped bring modern day electricity into our homes. Tesla’s imaginative designs of all the key elements made the fledgling alternating current (AC) capable of producing high voltages and transmitting power over great distances.

The low voltage and annoying sparking of direct current (DC) – championed by Thomas Edison – meant noisy and smelly DC power plants needed to be built every mile or two. Years earlier, Tesla had been walking in Budapest when suddenly the rotating magnetic field that would power his revolutionary induction motor appeared like a vision in the air in front of his face.

Manipulating it and improving it in his mind’s eye over the ensuing years, Tesla would eventually build the motor and transformers that he would use to fight the war of the currents. Yes, Tesla won that war, but it was not the only war he would have to fight to protect his inventions.

It was also Tesla, who developed the principles of wireless telegraphy, what we now call radio. Due to a horrific fire that destroyed his laboratory and set Tesla back many years, he lost fame and fortune to the upstart Guglielmo Marconi.

Marconi, after “borrowing” some of Tesla’s patents and racing forward to commercialize radio, went on to receive a Nobel Prize for the “invention” of radio.

While Marconi was commercializing his simplistic variation on Tesla’s work, Tesla was in Colorado Springs developing a more sophisticated wireless transmitter, one that could encode each signal and keep messages private.

Tesla was never to get the credit he deserved. Ironically, it was Marconi, who sued the government many years later, only to have the Supreme Court rule that it was, in fact, Tesla, who had preceded him in patenting the necessary components of a radio. Unfortunately for Tesla, this decision was made after he had passed away.

Marconi, the so called inventor of Radio was awarded Nobel prize for his invention. Interestingly, everything he did was based on the previous works by Tesla.

When Marconi turned world-famous by sending the first transatlantic message, his achievement was met by Tesla’s humble response:
"Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents."
So why are we taught about Edison and Marconi and others while history has largely forgotten Nikola Tesla? Some would argue a variety of conspiracy theories in which rich financiers and fearful governments suppressed Tesla’s work.

Others suggest Tesla’s many eccentricities as the reason his funding dried up. Still others point out that Tesla’s ideas were just too far ahead of his times. Perhaps the answer encompasses all of the above.

This image was created using “trick photography” via a double exposure. The electrical bolts were photographed in a darkened room. The photographic plate was exposed a second time with the equipment off and Tesla sitting in the chair.

Tesla’s Colorado Springs notes identify the photo as a double exposure. The photo has also been identified as a double exposure by Tesla biographers Carl Willis and Marc Seifer.

Tesla was certainly a man ahead of his time. In 1919 he foresaw a time when “an inexpensive receiver, no bigger than a watch, will enable [people] to listen anywhere, on land or sea, to a speech delivered or music played in some other place, however distant.” A pipe dream then, but commonplace now with our ubiquitous smartphones. He was ahead of his time as well with his dabbling in communication with other planets.

While in Colorado Springs perfecting his wireless telegraphy, Tesla recorded what he called “faint extraplanetary signals.” This experience in 1899, and his pursuit of further contact, would lead to ridicule at the time but later would lead some to name him the “Father of Radio Astronomy.”

As the 21st century ushers in solar and wind power we are shocked to discover it was Nikola Tesla who over one hundred years ago advocated for the use of renewable energy.

Always interested in the power of nature, nine of Tesla’s patents drove the generators that harnessed the vast power of Niagara Falls, the first large-scale hydroelectric project in the world.

He often spoke of harnessing the energy of the sun, which he called “an inexhaustible source of power,” and stated that fossil fuels were wasteful. He believed that natural sources of energy could “eliminate the need of coal, oil, gas or any other of the common fuels.” This was in 1933!

And he didn’t stop there. He called the windmill a machine that offered us a chance “since time immemorial” to utilize the energy of nature. He developed a system to derive energy from the natural heat of the Earth – geothermal power.

Tesla was friends with naturalist John Muir, the man who founded what would become Yosemite National Park. Muir appreciated that Tesla’s inventions “sought to utilize renewable energy and minimize destruction of natural resources.”

Tesla’s dream was to provide not only wireless communication, but unlimited wireless power accessible from anywhere in the world, and essentially for free

His greatest undertaking was named Wardenclyffe, in what is now Shoreham, Long Island. In addition to a laboratory designed by renowned architect Stanford White, Tesla began work on a 187-foot tall tower capped with a 68-foot hemispherical terminal.

Funded by a $150,000 stake by industrialist J. Pierpont Morgan, the Wardenclyffe tower offered the promise of transatlantic communication and global wireless energy.

Unfortunately, design flaws and delays – plus Marconi’s ill-timed transmission of the letter “S” from England to Canada – eventually led Morgan to withdraw funding. Despite Tesla’s tireless efforts the tower was torn down in 1917 to pay debts. Tesla never gave up on his dream, but to this day it remains unfulfilled.

“It seems I have always been ahead of my time,” Tesla lamented in the 81st year of his life. He lived out the final years in the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, venturing out only rarely to feed his beloved pigeons in Bryant Park or on the lion-framed steps of the famed New York Public Library. A sad end to a man who “invented the 20th century.”

Ah, but things are looking up, as Tesla is experiencing a bit of a nostalgic resurgence. An electric car company has helped return Tesla to public consciousness, as are iconic appearances in popular movies and television programs.

Recently the electrifying power of crowdfunding helped raise more than $1 million from excited fans in just over a week. The money enabled a non-profit group to purchase Tesla’s Wardenclyffe laboratory and is now turning it into a museum and science center.

Tesla would be happy his work continues in the minds and activities of countless “coilers” and “Teslians” who hope to make Tesla’s dreams come true.

The man who brought AC power into our homes, developed radio, envisioned wireless transmission of power and light, experimented with x-rays, developed neon lights, invented his namesake Tesla Coil, and even dabbled in direct energy weapons, is rising again. Perhaps the world is finally catching up to the inventive genius that was Nikola Tesla.

David J. Kent is a Marine Biologist, Scientist, Environmental Toxicologist, Photographer, Consultant and Writer. He has been the President of the regional chapters of two international scientific organizations, and has also chaired a variety of scientific groups and conferences. Not only has he written scientific reports, newsletters and blogs, but he also has written the famous book - ‘Tesla: Wizard of Electricity’.

What a brilliant inventor and human being.

 

[Alex_Spider]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/science-technology/469460/Life-on-Mars-Mystery-light-seen-on-red-planet-surface-in-latest-NASA-snap-could-be-proof

Mystery light on red planet's surface captured in latest NASA snap

The mystery light captured by NASA has sparked fresh controversy life could be on the planet.

The image which shows artificial light shining upward from the ground could indicate there is intelligent alien life.

One UFO blogger Scott Waring who spotted the image wrote: "This could indicate there there is intelligent life below the ground and uses light as we do. This is not a glare from the sun, nor is it an artifact of the photo process. Look closely at the bottom of the light. It has a very flat surface giving us 100% indiction it is from the surface.

"Sure NASA could go and investigate it, but hey, they are not on Mars to discovery life, but there to stall its discovery."

NASA's Curiosity Rover has been on the planet since August 2012 and has already made landmark discoveries.

Mars surface, aliensThe light was seen coming from Mars' surface [NASA]

In November 2012 data was found by SAM - the Curosity's main instrument for measuring organic life and the robot has also found evidence of water on the planet.

Mars has been tipped by astronomers to be the most likely place in our solar system to find life.

Dr Jennifer Eigenbrode, one of NASA's leading biochemists and geologists said: "I think the best place for us to search for signs of alien life is in the rocks of Mars that are protected from the ionizing radiation currently bombarding the surface.

"Finding signatures of ancient extraterrestrial microbial life and establishing confidence in that finding will largely depend on the quality of the preserved record.

light marsThe light was seen miles away [AP]

She told All About Space magazine: "Radiation can seriously alter ancient biosignature records, especially organics, but to what extent and how remains elusive. The reality is that any chemical and physical alteration can complicate and lower our confidence in interpreting signs of ancient life. The same is true for interpreting ancient terrestrial biosignatures.

“Perhaps the ExoMars mission will discover clues to the modern habitability of this more protected subsurface environment and if life is there.”

In the next few weeks, Curiosity will be performing more extensive tests and the Rover will drill even deeper than before.

NASA have yet to comment on the light beam photograph.

 

[Doctor Evo]

NASA have yet to comment on the light beam photograph.

This was published on Wednesday, April 9th.

From April 8th:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-108

Do you actually check any of this ****?

 

[Alex_Spider]

This was published on Wednesday, April 9th.

From April 8th:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-108

Do you actually check any of this ****?

Not really. Don't have the time to do so. And besides I don't wanna ruin the illusion

 

[Alex_Spider]

http://inhabitat.com/massive-iceberg-10x-the-size-of-manhattan-breaks-off-antarctic-glacier/

Massive Iceberg 10X the Size of Manhattan Breaks Off Antarctic Glacier

A few months ago Inhabitat reported that an iceberg 10 times the size of Manhattan broke away from the Antarctic into Pine Island Bay. Now that iceberg is drifting out of the bay and into the currents of the Southern Ocean. The breakaway – known as iceberg B-31 – snapped off in November, 2013 and though NASA was prepared for the event, it has prompted the agency to keep an eye on the potentially dangerous 20-mile wide iceberg as it heads toward shipping lanes.

The iceberg was originally about 275 square miles, though it has slowly been melting and now takes up about 250 square miles. To keep track of the iceberg, NASA has satellites watching it and the British Antarctic Survey airplanes dropped 37 GPS tracking units onto the surface. The GPS is particularly useful because it can be hard to track icebergs, even one this size, in the darkness of the Antarctic winter.

Rogue icebergs can be just as dangerous today as they were when one sank the HMS Titanic in 1912. Shipping has increased in the Antarctic areas in past years and, at the same time, more icebergs of all sizes are breaking away, a process known as calving, than ever before. Even with modern warning systems, icebergs can still pose a threat and can sink ships, like the MS Explorer in 2007.

While this may be a particularly massive piece of ice, it isn’t the biggest iceberg ever measured. That award goes to B-15, an iceberg twice the size of Delaware which broke away in 2000. Because of increasingly warm waters, more and more icebergs, including enormous icebergs like B-15 and B-31 are breaking away and scientists believe that we can only expect things to get worse. Scientists are particularly interested in calving from this area of the Antarctic, which some believe is melting particularly quickly, making it one of the biggest contributors to sea level rising. You can watch a video of the icebergs birth and journey here.

[YT]zwAOTvzrrFs[/YT]

 

[KevanG]

This giant fused hornet's nest looks like it swallowed a human

Trippy

I figure we'll be seeing this as an SCP sooner or later.

 

[Alex_Spider]

http://www.stuff.tv/volvo/100-self-driving-volvos-hit-streets-gothenburg/news

100 self-driving Volvos hit the streets of Gothenburg

Swedish city the first in the world to hold a large-scale trial of autonomous cars

The Swedish city of Gothenburg is to hold the world’s first large-scale autonomous car trial, with 100 self-driving Volvos used in a pilot project called “Drive Me”.

The cars will use 50km of public roads and experience “everyday driving conditions”, where their autonomous capabilities – braking, staying in lane, adaptive cruise control and parking – will be put to the test. While the cars are self-driving, their drivers won’t need to do anything, but will be able to interact using smartphones and tablets.

The Volvos in question are defined as “Highly Autonomous Cars”, which mean that most driving functions can be carried out automatically. A driver is however expected to be available for occasional control.

They can park themselves too
The Drive Me scheme is being run in partnership with a host of Swedish government departments, and the idea is to demonstrate not only that self-driving cars work but that they’re safer and more fuel efficient than their human-controlled counterparts.

Research suggests that 90-95 percent of traffic accidents are the result of human error, and that autonomous driving can cut fuel consumption by up to 50 percent in certain conditions. (Plus, you get to read your Kindle and sip cappuccinos while your car whisks you home from the office, so what’s not to like?)

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Dogs Found to Be Even Sweeter, Release Same "Love Hormone" as Humans

A new study claims that dogs release the same "love hormone" (oxytocin) that humans do when they're excited about a new relationship. How sweet! Even more reason for your friend to get one! (You would, but sadly your apartment doesn't allow it.)

For the experiment, reported by the NY Post, scientists at an animal refuge in Arkansas took blood samples from a mixed-breed terrier and a goat and tested their oxytocin levels separately. (The animals often played together.) The scientists then put them in a pen to interact for 15 minutes, during which the dog's oxytocin levels rose 48 percent. This rise, the researchers claim, is equivalent to that of a human who is excited about a new friendship. The study concluded that domesticated pets release the hormone when interacting both with other animals and humans.

Even more adorably, the goat had a 210 percent increase in oxytocin during the play session. "We essentially found that the goat might have been in love with the dog," explained head researcher Paul Zak. "The only time I have seen such a surge in oxytocin in humans is when someone sees their loved one, is romantically attracted to someone, or is shown an enormous kindness."

Awww. It's okay, little lovesick goat. You'll find someone someday!

http://nypost.com/2014/04/26/pet-dogs-release-same-love-hormone-as-humans/

Well that's cool

 

[KevanG]

I read that as oxycontin.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

A Strange New Mineral Has Been Discovered in Australia

It's purple, translucent and goes by "putnisite." Discovered in Western Australia, putnisite contains the unusual elemental combination of strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen and is notable for its dissimilarity from other, known families of minerals.


Photo Credit: P. Elliott et al via PopSci

PopSci's Douglas Main has the details:


While dozens of new minerals are discovered each year, it is rare to find one that is unrelated to already-known substances. "Most minerals belong to a family or small group of related minerals, or if they aren't related to other minerals they often are to a synthetic compound—but putnisite is completely unique and unrelated to anything," said Peter Elliott, co-author of a study describing the new substance and a researcher at the South Australian Museum and the University of Adelaide, in a statement. "Nature seems to be far cleverer at dreaming up new chemicals than any researcher in a laboratory."

http://minmag.geoscienceworld.org/content/78/1/131.abstract

I had no idea we were still finding new minerals