On a trip to Nepal, Apollo astronaut Stu Roosa met Nepalese who believe the spirits of their dead reside on the Moon. Roosa could not understand why a few of the local citizens treated him like a god, nor why they were distressed when he told them he saw no one else on the Moon.
Thanks to skyrocketing real…
Thanks to skyrocketing real estate prices, Manhattan gas stations are worth much more than the money the owner can make selling gas.
A picture of a giant robot helping…
A picture of a giant robot helping Russia revolutionaries storm the winter palace in 1917, was accidentally used in an Australian history exam. Some students wasted time in trying to figure out what the giant robot was, thinking it was a statue of a Russian politician or a battleship.
An AI machine given 8,000 cats’ names…
An AI machine given 8,000 cats’ names and then instructed to come up with its own suggested the following: Cheesemonger, Lilith the Vamp, Mr. Sinister, This Guy, Funky Moe and You’re Telling A Lie. For more AI Weirdness, head over to aiweirdness.com.
Chimpanzees are more likely…
Chimpanzees are more likely to spend time with another chimpanzee if they have watched a film together.
Chimpanzees are more likely…
Chimpanzees are more likely to spend time with another chimpanzee if they have watched a film together.
In 1995, an artist named William…
In 1995, an artist named William Utermohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He continued to make art for the last few years of his life, both as documentation of his daily life and of his decline in cognitive function. Looking through these pieces, you can trace his cognitive changes.
In 2007, the hijacking of a Mauritanian…
In 2007, the hijacking of a Mauritanian flight was thwarted. Over the PA, the pilot instructed the passengers that he was about to make a bumpy landing, and they should attack the hijacker while he was off balance. He said this in French, which the gunman did not speak. The ploy succeeded.
German film director Werner Herzog…
German film director Werner Herzog nearly took LANSA Flight 508, but canceled at the last minute. The plane was struck by lightning, killing 91 of 92 crew members and passengers. The lone survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, whose story was told in Herzog’s documentary Wings of Hope.
TV show Top Gear conducted…
TV show Top Gear conducted an extreme test of a Toyota pickup truck by leaving it on a beach to be taken by the tide, leaving it on top of a highrise building that was demolished, and setting it on fire. It still ran after being repaired with only the tools in the truck’s toolbox.