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4 Animals With Crazy Abilities

John Johnson — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:06:10 CDT

How does a tiger know when its prey is dead? It uses its ultra-sensitive whiskers to detect a pulse, or lack thereof. So says the Sierra Club in rounding up four animals with "superhero" abilities. Those whiskers have sensitive nerve endings, and after a tiger takes down its prey, the...

Message in a Bottle Surfaces, 98 Years Later

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:00:00 CDT

On June 30, 1915, Selina Pramstaller and Tillie Esper wrote a brief message during a trip to a Michigan amusement park on Harsens Island, sealed it in a bottle, and dropped it in the St. Clair River. Last June, almost exactly 98 years later, diver Dave Leander found it at...

Town Delivers Dog Poop Back to Owners Who Didn't Pick It Up

Evann Gastaldo — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:00:05 CDT

A Spanish town has come up with an innovative way to deal with the problem of dog owners who don't clean up after their pets: mail the poop back to the owners. Officials in Brunete recruited 20 volunteers to keep an eye out for offenders, the Local reports. When they...

One Key to Finland's Healthy Infants: A Cardboard Box

John Johnson — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 15:22:05 CDT

Finland has one of the lowest rates of infant mortality in the world, and the BBC gives a good chunk of the credit to a cardboard box and the philosophy behind it. For 75 years now, the nation has provided a box filled with clothes, toys, and all manner of...

Dead Guy Writes Own Obituary, and It's Awesome

Evann Gastaldo — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:55:05 CDT

At first glance, John E. "Jack" Holden's obituary doesn't seem very ... respectful. Referring to Holden's death as "taking the Deep Six," it also claims the WWII veteran won "the Distinguished Fleeing Cross for avoiding numerous women who were seeking child support under unproven circumstances" and that, after the death of...

American Woman Key to Cracking Ancient Code

Arden Dier — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:15:54 CDT

The British genius known for decoding a then-unknown 3,500-year-old language may not have been all he was cracked up to be. According to newly catalogued archives, Michael Ventris, who decoded Linear B in 1952, owes much of his praise to an American woman. "Alice Kober is the great unsung...

Cell Network Wiped Out by ... Beer Fridge

Ruth Brown — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:07:59 CDT

Beer truly is the cause of (and solution to) all of life's problems. Or at least this problem: An Aussie telecom company investigating the cause of network blackouts near Melbourne tracked the disturbance to ... a bloke's beer fridge. Technicians believe electric sparks emitted from the fridge's motor generated enough radio...

Boy, 10, Fights Off Intruders With Their Own Gun

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:22:11 CDT

A 10-year-old in Brooklyn appears to be well on his way to becoming Batman. The New York Post reports that two armed men, pretending to be FedEx deliverymen, invaded the boy's home last night, ordering two teens to remain in the living room. Then one of the men made the...

Ancient University to Admit First Students in Centuries

Kate Seamons — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 07:00:05 CDT

Oxford, Harvard, and ... Nalanda? In the annals of history, Nalanda University endures as one of the world's preeminent learning institutions, and one that came centuries before its more recognizable counterparts. If a group of officials and scholars have their way, that will soon change. The northern India university was undone...