To close out the week here are some wonderful oddities you might have missed surfing the interwebs. Take the image above to start with. There are a lot of creative Advent Calenders out there with things much more interesting than candy, but a digital version? Better yet: it is interactive! Each day you can open up a new random game. Neat stuff.
So wait, what? The Earth … hollow? Yes, it’s an insane theory, and yes it is as fictitious as the fairy tales that gave rise to it, yet at the same time it can’t be directly disproved. Why? Because we have never actually dug more than about 15 miles below the surface of the Earth, so there is no 100% direct evidence the Earth is solid through an through! Does this mean Hollow Earth Theories could hold true? Sure, and Santa might actually drop by 6 billion houses a year on a sled pulled by a glorified pack of deer.
What may be most amazing about Hollow Earth theories is the fact that some people believe them even today. One self-identified scientist and explorer is currently trying to raise two million dollars to mount a mission where no man has ever gone before: through a polar ice cap and into a supposed ‘Inner Earth’ with its own oceans, continents and of course its own sun. What is strangest about his video presentation on the subject (above) is the deadpan, candid and intelligent-sounding way in which he presents his arguments.
Shocking as it may seem that some people still believe the world to be empty at its core this idea is unsurprisingly nothing new. Early theorists held that there were a series of concentric spheres within the Earth while more recent models have posited a viable interior space or even that we occupy the center rather than the interior surface of sphere with everything else in orbits within this sphere.
It’s happening (again): a high profile black man is turning white, though this case is arguably more tragic than Michael Jackson’s disputed case of vitiligo. “I’m a black man turning white on television and people can see it,” says Thomas, an anchor and entertainment reporter for the local Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate. “If you’ve watched me over the years, you’ve seen my hands completely change from brown to white” said Thomas in an interview on CNN
Think it can’t happen to you too? As it turns out, “the population incidence worldwide is considered to be between 1% and 2% (0.74% in the United States). Also known as “leukoderma” vitiligo is a bizarre “chronic skin condition that causes loss of pigment, resulting in irregular pale patches of skin.” No one knows for sure what causes this strange disease but it is suspected to be related to environmental as well as genetic factors. At least Michael now has some adults to keep him company.
Try searching the interwebs for ‘bizarre’ and yes, in fact, you will come up with a number of truly bizarre things. Start with sites like Del.icio.us or 2spare to get a feel for what is out there because Google just won’t cut it. Here is just a small sampling of what you might find while trolling around for the freakishness available at your fingertips one this wonderfully weird web.
To start things out we have the 10 most bizarre people on Earth – you won’t be disappointed though you may be disturbed by some of the stuff you find on this list, including the man who didn’t sleep for decades. In fact, sleeping for decades may be the only way you haven’t already seen this list of the 20 most bizarre experiments of all time created as part of one man’s research for the aptly named book Elephants on Acid. Speaking of experiments, scientists likely enjoy breaks for dull day-to-day routines to investigate bizarre real-life sea creatures like these. Another classic of the internet you likely have seen but should if you haven’t: a bunch of truly bizarre statues. Can’t find the words to express your reaction? Fair enough, try this list of funny and bizarre foreign phrases. Need more weird? Here are some very strange facts!
