Australian and American researchers believe they have uncovered the cause of a cancer that has decimated the world’s Tasmanian devils populations, pushing the marsupial towards extinction at a frighteningly quick rate. Scientists hope to use the information to formulate a cure in time to save the species.
Every once in a while (though it seems more frequently in this oft-strange world we live in) a story comes along that, while true, seems to be the work of Hollywood writers.
Case in point: Russia’s battle plan to save earth from an asteroid collision.
In this case – unlike virtually, every single Hollywood movie (…yawn…)- it won’t be the U.S.A. that saves the day. Russian scientists have stepped forward with a (vague) plan to send a spacecraft up to bump the asteroid off course.
Continue reading Off the Edge of the Map: Russia to Arm World Against Asteroid
Just when you think the world can’t get any weirder, a story comes along to make you question absolutely everything.
Case in point: Peru’s alleged fat harvesting gang.
In mid-November Peruvian police warned the public of a gang of killers stalking people in the Peruvian jungle for three decades to harvest fat and sell it to the European cosmetics industry. Police named the gang pishtacos – based on traditional folklore of a tall, white male in a big hat who roams the countryside stealing the fat and eyes of unsuspecting travelers. According to the allegations the killers would cut off “victims’ heads, arms and legs, remove the organs, and then suspend the torsos from hooks above candles that warmed the flesh as the fat dripped into tubs below.” Police produced suspects who claimed a gallon of the human fat was worth $60,000. Sounds like something out of a Stephen King novel, right? Uber yucky….
But then the story got worse …. Within a week or two the cops’ allegations began to unravel as medical professionals and local journalists attacked the veracity of the claims.
Continue reading Off the Edge of the Map: Peru’s Fat Killers?