Cheryl Eddy

North America’s Rarest Wolves Are Deemed Endangered…ish

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has added the Mexican gray wolf, Canis lupus baileyi, to its list of endangered species, albeit with some odd caveats. Scientific American reports: Mexican gray wolves nearly went extinct 40 years ago. After decades of hunting and persecution the last five wild members of the subspecies were rounded up…

Using Social Media Is Less Stressful Than You Think, Say Scientists

Anyone who has spent time on Facebook or Instagram has experienced … let’s call them negative emotions. But new research suggests that using social media is actually less stress-inducing than you might think. In a study called “Social Media and the Cost of Caring,” scientists at the Pew Research Center used the Perceived Stress Scale…

A pet alligator was seized after some 37 years spent chilling in its owners’ backyard … and maybe snacking on neighborhood cats. “You cannot own a reptile like this in the City of Los Angeles without having a proper permit,” an Animal Services rep said. “And obviously for an alligator, we would not permit that.”

Want To See Where Ray Bradbury Lived For 50 Years? Too Bad.

Though Ray Bradbury’s literary legacy lives on after the author’s 2012 passing, the Los Angeles home where he lived for over 50 years is currently getting the teardown treatment. https://gizmodo.com/r-i-p-ray-bradbury-author-of-fahrenheit-451-and-the-m-5916175 Curbed LA reports that the buyers who paid $270,000 over the home’s asking price last May (the total: a cool $1.765 million) received a permit…

Jock Unveils Sleek, Dreamy Concept Art For Ex Machina  

Ahead of the artificial intelligence thriller Ex Machina’s release (January 21 in the UK; April 10 in the US), artist Jock shared some of his early concept art on Twitter, highlighting the film’s sophisticated artificial intelligence, Ava (portrayed by Alicia Vikander). Machina is the directorial debut of novelist (The Beach) and screenwriter (28 Days Later,…

Cookie-Based Research Suggests Powerful People Are Sloppier Eaters

This week’s video in the University of California system’s Fig. 1 YouTube series (tag line: “Get inside the mind of a researcher!”) offers a bite-sized lesson in why, exactly, powerful people tend to be so selfish. Turns out when people feel more powerful, it has a curious effect on the “empathy network” in the brain’s…

Peek Inside Subterranean Tunnels Deep Beneath Washington, DC

No, it’s not the setting for a new horror movie, though that’s not a bad idea, considering we’re talking 75,000 square feet of tunnels and trolley stations that have been virtually abandoned for the past 50 years beneath Dupont Circle. The Arts Coalition for the Dupont Underground has signed on to transform this abandoned labyrinth…

“Gun That Won The West” Discovered Hidden In National Park

A weathered, long-hidden Winchester Model 1873, aka “the gun that won the West” (and inspiration for the Anthony Mann film) was found leaning against a tree in Great Basin National Park. Its origins, and how long it’s been hanging out in the park, offer an intriguing mystery. National Parks Traveler quotes Nichole Andler, chief of…

Who Killed The Black Dahlia? A Look At The Most Compelling Suspect

It was 68 years ago this week that the body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was found mutilated and sliced in half in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. Newspapers would give the victim of this crime an unforgettable nickname: the Black Dahlia. The murder has become one of history’s most enduring unsolved crimes, offering an…

British Library Fights To Preserve Historic Recordings Archive

As part of its vast collection of literary and historic treasures (the Magna Carta, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook), the British Library owns some six million sound recordings, including significant theater productions, famous voices (like J.R.R. Tolkien’s), and field recordings of extinct animals. Some of them date back to the earliest and most fragile days of…

We Can’t Stop Watching This Video Of A Chicken That Purrs Like A Cat

This hen, a rescue animal taken in by Australia’s Manning River Farm Animal Sanctuary, enjoys purring when she’s petted … just like a cat. So zen. So happy. Reports the shelter: “She has a bit of a sore leg so we’re glad to spoil her just a little.” Via Laughing Squid. Top image via Yahoo.

The World’s 9 Most Haunted Bodies of Water

Ghost ships, watery pianos, vengeful spirits, shipwrecks, killer seaweed, and voodoo… haunted bodies of water come in all kinds and configurations. There’s nothing scarier than water that’s out to get you. Here are the nine most haunted bodies of water on Earth. Who’s up for a swim? Top image: Pluck and Luck Dime Novel Magazine…

New research shows that pigs, already known to be intelligent, may also be able to feel empathy. Scientists in the Netherlands used music to train a group of pigs to anticipate either food or stress, then introduced untrained animals into the mix. The end result: the “naive” pigs did seem to empathize with their trained…

Why Did This Penny Sell For A Record-Breaking $2.6 Million?

That’s right: this ultra-rare 1792 “Birch Cent,” named for engraver Robert Birch, just raked in nearly $2.6 million at a Florida auction. What allows a one cent coin to fetch such a high price? Ultra-rare is probably not even good enough of a descriptor; according to a Reuters report on the sale, it was “among…

Lovecraft Beer Coming to Your Next Kegger At Miskatonic University

Narrangansett Brewing Company was founded in 1890, the same year fellow Rhode Islander H.P. Lovecraft was born. Clearly, a beer-themed tribute was in order. At last, it has happened. Boston Magazine reports: Narragansett will release their new Lovecraft Honey Ale on January 19, the birthday of Lovecraft’s biggest literary influence, Edgar Allan Poe. The collaboration…

Ghosts Come Free With Purchase Of This Medieval Castle

If you have a spare $429,000, a love of history, a burning desire to live in the northernmost region of England, and don’t mind sharing your abode with a ghostly woman (and, according to some reports, a phantom hound), step right this way. According to the real estate broker’s website, Blenkinsopp Castle dates from the…

Juries Of The Future May View Crime Scenes Via “Forensic Holodecks” 

Is the Oculus Rift headset poised to become a game-changer in the courtroom, offering juries a way to evaluate evidence in greater detail than ever before? According to new research, “forensic holodecks” (yep, that’s a Star Trek reference) that reconstruct crime scenes could soon become valuable courtroom tools. New Scientist reports: Over the last few…

Beethoven’s music may have been “both figuratively and physically heartfelt.” New research by a team that included a cardiologist, a medical historian, and a musicologist suggests his unique rhythms may have been inspired by his own irregular heartbeat. It’s thought that the composer’s deafness likely heightened his awareness of the “arrhythmic patterns” of his own…

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Has Written A Novel About Mycroft Holmes

Most folks know him from his basketball career, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is also a best-selling author (an autobiography, several non-fiction tomes, and multiple books for kids), and an undercover airplane pilot (to cult-movie fans, anyway). And now, his first novel (with co-author Anna Waterhouse) stars Sherlock Holmes’ older brother. Reports the New York Times’ Artsblog:…

Archer Is Back, And We’re Cautiously Optimistic About It

Archer is back! And back on track, as FX’s animated, irreverent secret-agent saga veers away from the cocaine-cowboys plotline of last season and into more “going on missions and fighting and action and people getting shot and stuff,” as executive producer Matt Thompson told us last month. Spoilers ahead. https://gizmodo.com/whos-back-and-whats-new-in-archer-season-six-the-insid-1669383651 Unfortunately, the first ep, “The…