From workplace voodoo dolls and self-inflicted colonoscopies to cannibalistic diets and using roller coasters to pass kidney stones, here are the winners of this yearâs Ig Nobel Prizes.
Indole, an organic chemical compound thatâs found in our gut and contributes to the smell of poop, increases the healthy lifespan of worms, flies, and mice, according to new research. Scientists say this likely applies to humans as well, and that this stinky substance could eventually be used to delay age-relatedâŚ
The late Bill Paxtonâs career was incredibly variedâhe earned widespread critical acclaim for HBO polygamy drama Big Love, and rocked one of the best mustaches in the West in Tombstone. But our favorite Paxton performances came in genre moviesâand he was a high point in some of the greatest of all time.
Time now for a very cute video about a rather terrible prospectâthe very grim possibility of the universe spawning a lethal bubble of pure vacuum that expands in all directions at the speed of light.
An Italian neuroscientist who wants to perform the worldâs first human head transplant next year is claiming to have conducted radical spinal cord experiments on mice, rats, and a dog. Experts say the results are vague and incomplete, and that talk of human head transplants are grossly premature.
Itâs a well-known fact that the cadavers of adult men were utilized in medical research and for educational purposes in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, a new anthropological study from the University of Cambridge offers fascinating details about another common, but poorly-documented, area of human medicalâŚ
A couple of years ago, scientists in Japan watched in amazement as three male sand martins tried to have sex with a dead bird lying face down on the ground, which they later learned was also male. Surprisingly, âhomosexual necrophiliaâ is actually a thing among birds, but for sand martins, thereâs a very reasonableâŚ
For one obsessed suitor, death and decaying flesh couldnât keep him from his one true sweetheart. America has long been the land of fulfilling oneâs hopes and dreams. Or visions, as was the case of a German transplant by the name of Carl Tanzler.
Some species of moth can produce ultrasonic emissions that confuse echolocating bats, and they do it by rubbing their sex organs together.
Archer's sixth season is almost over, with the first of a two-part finale seeing the blundering super spies and assorted hangers-on being miniaturized and injected into a comatose scientist. "Drastic Voyage: Part One" (blorp!) mixes high-stakes danger with goofy references ... a classic Archer recipe for success.
"When the going gets weird," Hunter S. Thompson once wrote, "the weird turn pro." As we cast our gazes back at 2014, we can all agree the year had more than its share of utterly odd moments. Needless to say, we're all pros now.
After attending a lecture on "out of body experiences," a 24-year-old student from the University of Ottawa approached her professor saying, "I thought everybody could do that." She can apparently do this at will â making her the first person with this condition to be studied.
From human head transplants to magnets that prove gay marriage is wrong to potty-mouthed supercomputers, 2013 was truly a bizarre year for science and those purporting to be scientists. Here are 25 of the weirdest stories of the past year.
Hollywood's addiction to remakes and reboots continues unabated, with dozens of films in development. And meanwhile, bookshelves are straining with hundreds of original, thrilling novels that have never been adapted to the screen. Here's a second dose of our list of books that should be adapted instead of yet anotherâŚ
Pretty much every movie you ever heard of is getting remade. They're doing an R-rated Weird Science reboot, which sounds like a terrible idea. But what's the one movie that absolutely must not be remade â either because it's too great, or because it's too awful?
If there's one movie that probably doesn't need an "edgy" R-rated remake, its a movie about how two horny teens make their perfect woman out of a Barbie doll. But, that won't stop Hollywood from defiling the already fairly creepy '80s film Weird Science.
Picture this: a mountain of a man â over seven feet tall, by the looks of it â stands in the ambulance bay entrance of a hospital. Clutched in his hands are the feet of a small woman who is dangling, fully conscious, with her head pointed straight at the floor. She appears to be entirely okay with the situation. AâŚ
Worried that your period will attract unwanted attention from wild bears? Fear not! By referencing actual studies that look at actual bears' reactions to actual human menstrual blood, boingboing's Maggie-Koerth Baker has helped clear up some of the fact and fiction surrounding bears and lady business â and it'sâŚ
Susan Dominus has penned a remarkable piece for the New York Times about Krista and Tatiana Hogan, the 4-year old conjoined twin girls from British Columbia who are attached at the head. Scans show that the two girls have brains that are interconnected by a never-seen-before "thalamic bridge," an indication that theyâŚ
Some creatures are just too weird to not share with the world. Case in point: Osedax mucofloris, which just became my newest all-time favorite sea creature. Why? Osedax mucofloris literally translates to "bone-eating snot-flower," which, let's face it, is probably just about the best scientific name ever.
