Results tagged “Unusual News”

I was unaware that there were no images of William Shakespeare that could be attributed to having been done in his lifetime, until my DH sent me this article Portrait of Shakespeare unveiled 399 years too late.

This is a story of a portrait that languished in a family collection for centuries and no one knew who it was a portrait of until one day, a member of the family saw another portrait that looked eerily familiar. So now we have the true image of the face that launched hundreds of characters into our imaginations and our history. You're a sharp looking, dude, William!

...or hot chocolate or tea...whichever your favorite warm beverage is. I love this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. The days are getting shorter, the leaves are beautiful, chilly winds chase falling leves across the yard (and puppies scamper after them in delight). These are great days to sit by a fire, read a book, and enjoy a warm cup of ___________________ (fill in the blank with your favorite warm beverage).

Well, I was reading an interesting article at National Geographic that says holding a warm cup of beverage can give you a warmer outlook. People who are physically warmed were found to be more likely to buy a gift for a friend than themselves and to think more favorably of the person they are meeting with during or after the hand warming time.

I am thinking Starbucks should tune into this study to improve business during these economic times...invite your interviewer to Starbucks (or date or whatever) and you treat. Between the fact they aren't picking up the tab and everyone is sitting around with a warm beverage...great things are bound to happen!

Peru archaeologists have found what may have been a pre-Inca pregnant woman sacrificed for an important religious event. It is highly unusual to sacrifice pregnant women.

Village of Twins Is a MysteryA small village in India has about a hundred pairs of twins, mostly same sex and 90 percent born in the last 20 years. No one can explain the phenomenon.

Breast cancer is something that all women worry about. We gripe about having to have Mammograms done. We set up pals to help us remember to do self-breast exams. We check our family tree. But when most of us think about breast cancer, we think the sign to look for is a lump. Most of us aren't aware that there is another type of breast cancer that we should be on the look out for. It is called Inflammatory Breast Cancer (or IBC).

What makes IBC so dangerous is a combination of things

1. people, including doctors and cancer research facilities, not really having it on the top of their mind when they are asked about breast issues.
2. IBC is often misdiagnosed when first seen as a bug bite.
3. IBC is very, very aggressive.

I had never heard of IBC until today when a friend sent me an email with a link to a video about it.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video and here are some other links you can check out as well. Being informed is half the battle when it comes to our health. Please share this information with other women you know.

National Cancer Institute IBC Fact Page

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Mayo Clinic IBC Fact Page

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation

Okay...you may be asking what these two things have in common. Well, today, two articles came to my attention that were very interesting and I thought I would share them with you.

First of all, as I was perusing the Drudge Report and ran across this title: Brrr! Farmers' Almanac says cold winter ahead. Well, for those of you who know me, you are probably aware that I love snow and the winter and cold weather when I can wear sweaters and sweatshirts. Last winter, Bruce, who worked for a local news station at the time, said that the meterologist there was predicting that the winter of 2008-2009 would be a doozy. He said he was basing this on last summer and last winter. I thought that was interesting and filed it away...hoping that he was right. Well, The Farmer's Almanac, which is accurate 80-85% of the time has predictions for cold, wet and snowy for much of the U.S. this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Second, my friend, Jen, sent me an email about the Colossal Squid being a Colossal Wuss . She knows I love animal stories (and she knows this because she is a faithful reader of my blog). So she sent me an article that she thought I would be interested in. And indeed I was. Turns out there are theories that the bigger the Colossal Squid grows, the less agressive it is because it is too big to be fast and aggressive. Thanks, Jen, for thinking of me! I haven't posted any animal news for awhile. I've been too busy with travel posts, but I hope to get back to animal news this fall.

Oh well....back to the woods we must go.

There is some doubt as to who the actual huckster was, but here's the scoop.

My husband is a private pilot and he loves to fly. I have a love/hate relationship with flying. I love getting places quickly, but being up in the air leaves me feeling so out of control (though I know it is way safer than driving).

My husband had one tricky flight that involved flying into a thunderstorm after being given inaccurate weather information. He did a heck of a job flying (as attested to by the fact that he landed safely and that one of his passengers, another pilot, said he did a great job!)

I would like to hand out kudos to the pilots who were flying the Spirit of Australia when a 3 meter hole appeared in the side and the plane dropped 20,000 feet! All of the 346 passengers and 19 crew members were able to disembark the plane normally. Way to go pilots! And Praise God for the outcome!

Now this is a story!

Note that NASA's rebuttal did claim that Dr. Mitchell was on medication or seeking any kind of mental health treatment. Merely that they didn't agree with his opinions. Dr. Mitchell doesn't appear to be voicing opinions, but facts....

Watch this video from National Geographic. It shows a senisble idea that is being considered to help cut back on food costs. How do you feel about the proposal? Personally, I am all for it!

WOW! This toilet exudes pleasant scents, provides cover up sounds, checks your blood pressure, tests your urine and more! Check it out with this video from National Geographic

I heard about this the other day. Check out the video on National Geographic. I suffer a bit from motion sickness when I am a passenger in a car...I can't imagine what it would be like to be in this building!

Have you ever heard someone say Guiness tastes like a chocolate shake? Or how about tabasco that tastes like donut glaze? Vinegar that resembles apple juice?

What, have I gone mad? Nope, but I have been reading about something called a Miracle Fruit that was discovered almost 300 years ago in Africa, but isn't very well known. This fruit has the ability to make sour things sweet (and to make sweet things almost unbearable to eat).

I am thinking this could be the diet secret of the century! I mean...eat lemons and have them taste sweet...don't you see? We could eat the berry, then eat a low calorie meal (like a salad) which would suddenly take on a new taste sensation. The berries tricks last for about up to an hour and each berry sells for about $2.00. I think it would be fun just to try out! Perhaps I will get to experience a Flavor tripping party, or maybe I will just order a couple of berries to see!

My friend over at My Little Drummer Boys just made me aware of a cool Wikipedia experiment. They report that there are some 70,000,000 million blogs in the world and they want to see how long it will take 1,000,000 blogs to sign up on Wikipedia. They started this experiment on April 10th, and apparently word of mouth is a tad slow. They are only up to number 1448! So go take advantage of this cool experiment. Get another link, perhaps more traffic and help Wikipedia answer the question they are dying to know....just how long will it take for a million blogs to sign up!???

Video from National Geographic: Greensburg, Kansas was basically destroyed last May when a F-5 tornado touched down. Today they are making lemonade out of lemons. They could have given up and moved away, instead, they are rebuilding their town, and they are rebuilding Green! Way to go, citizens of Greensburg! You are a shining example to us all!

In a small village in India, a child has been born with two faces due to an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication. She is being worshipped as the reincarnation of an Indian goddess.

You can watch a video about this unusual child and you can read more about her as well.