Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.Magnolia, 1999. The collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota is a tragedy, some say of epic proportions. Certainly, it is the most significant bridge collapse, not caused by an easily visible external reason like an earthquake or an impact from a barge, since 1967. An Anomaly National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said it is too early for officials to know if the accident could have been avoided. “They are built not to fall down. This is an anomaly and we’re going to try to find out [...]
An Electrogenic Mammal?
There are three known kinds of electric – more correctly called electrogenic – animals: (1) the one species, Electrophorus electricus, of South American electric eel (really a knifefish), (2) the 19 species of African electric catfish in the genera Malapterurus and Paradoxoglanis, and (3) the 69 species of electric rays (order Torpediniformes) found around the world. The first two fish both demonstrate the ability to shock prey with electricity as an effective strategy for a piscivore (an animal that eats fish). They produce high levels of voltage, e.g. electric eel (600 volts) and the electric catfish (350 volts). Electric rays [...]
Bridge Name Game: Reeves/McDaniel
August 1, 2007: The I-35W Bridge collapses. Taking a couple Fortean and Mothman sidetreks, here is more pondering in the wake of the I-35W Bridge collapse. While reading the accounts about the fall of the Minnesota bridge, I noticed two names popped up, Reeves and McDaniel. Hang in here with me as I let that Fortean part of my brain wander and wonder. Jay Reeves, 39, was one of the first people on the scene after the collapse. He tried calling 911, but all the lines were jammed. Then, he heard the sounds of children’s screams from the school bus. [...]
Attack Panther “Like a Woolly Mammoth”
The photograph of the “Sidney Mystery Cat” taken in Maine late in June 2007. Articles about incidents in British Columbia, Ontario, and Maine have appeared recently, detailing breaking news and updates about mountain lions, cougars, panthers, puma or whatever you wish to call these great cats (Puma concolor) of North America. Here’s a roundup of panther news, from west to east: A cougar attack has left Colton Reeb with strange memories, but little fear of the big cats that roam rural areas such as the B.C. Interior region where the 12-year-old was scratched and bitten this week. “Colton remembers seeing [...]
New Enigmatic Catfish: Lacantunia enigmatica
Lacantunia enigmatica shown above.Photo courtesy of John P. Sullivan. I get interesting emails. Here’s a good one with a new species discovery to share: I’m a fan of Cryptomundo and also an ichthyologist. I thought I’d point out an article we just published on an enigmatic catfish from Chiapas, Mexico (named Lacantunia enigmatica, appropriately). From DNA analysis we found that this species is apparently a relict of a once much more widespread clade of catfishes (claroteinea) all of which are today exclusively found African. It’s an amazing disjunct distribution for a freshwater clade. The paper, published in the latest Proceedings [...]
Bridge Collapse: Flashback to 1967
A bridge over the Mississippi River has fallen. The I-35 W is visible as one of the darker (thus wider) bridges on this map, and is labeled. It is seen near the Gasworks Area and the Bohemian Flats. As it gets near 10 pm EDT, the wire services are saying seven people are reported dead from the freeway bridge that fell into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, about four hours ago. Reuters is flashing the news around the world that “One hundred cars [are] missing in US bridge collapse.” News channels on television are showing wall-to-wall images of the [...]
Scientists Need Your Help: Identify This
Have you seen anything like the above, ever? This crustacean, found in the marine environment off Walpole and Portland, Maine, is not like anything researchers have seen before. Can you assist them with identifying it? (Photo courtesy Casco Bay Estuary Partnership) Reporter Ann S. Kim noted in The Maine Sunday Telegram on July 31, 2007, specifically about this unknown animal: A crustacean the size of a grain of rice was among the hundreds of specimens that researchers gathered in recent days from docks and piers from Cape Cod to midcoast Maine. The tiny crustacean, the marine version of a pill [...]
Almasty Eyewitness at Weird Weekend
The reported appearance of the Almasty or Almas is often combined with frequently heard folkloric advice that the best way to escape from the female of the species is by running downhill. This motif is also found among reports from Sherpas regarding the Abominable Snowmen of the Himalaya. A Ukrainian biologist who has spent years hunting for the Russian equivalent of the Yeti will be one of the speakers at this year’s Weird Weekend in Woolsery. Grigoriy Panchenko claims to have seen one of the creatures himself in a barn on a remote farm in 1991. He also claims to [...]
Bigfoot Friendly Tom Snyder Dies
Before David Letterman, before “Coast to Coast” was all about Art Bell and George Noory, talk show host Tom Snyder was pushing back the boundaries on late night radio and television, sometimes discussing Sasquatch. Snyder, 71, the former host of NBC’s “The Tomorrow Show,” then “Tomorrow Coast to Coast,” and CBS’ “The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder,” died on Sunday afternoon, July 29, 2007, in San Francisco, from compilations of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Snyder gained national fame for hosting “Tomorrow” in NBC’s post-”Tonight Show” slot from 1973 to 1982, with some of his more memorable guests including John Lennon [...]
Beowulf Naked
What have they done to the saga of the misunderstood lonely neighborhood hairy forest giant and his cranky mom? Where has the Neandertaloid gone in this tale of a dying, soon-to-be extinct group of humanlike beings? Coming this November, Beowulf is re-invented for the screen beyond the epic remembrances many of us share of this legend. I really doubt the filmmakers have followed my line of thinking that Grendel was a surviving true giant, near Neandertal, or perhaps even a relict form of Homo heildelbergensis. Nevertheless, the film is made in a fashion that makes it appear similar to 300 [...]
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