Crabfest

As the author of The Corpse: A History, I have a long known that crabs are among the first scavengers to feed on a dead body underwater. So I was not surprised to learn that that is what researchers found when they dropped and observed pig carcasses in the sea. The decay of corpses above and under the ground is well-documented thanks to the Body Farm, so scientists at Canada's Simon Fraser University decided to add to the forensic knowledge about the breakdown of bodies submerged 330' (100 m) in salt water. Sure enough, they provided a tasty treat for shrimp, Dungeness crabs, and squat lobsters (VIDEO HERE). Concludes forensic entomologist Gail Anderson, "Pigs are the best models for humans. They're roughly the right size for a human body; they have the same kind of gut bacteria, and they're relatively hairless ...Now we have a very good idea of how bodies break down underwater."

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Reverse mummification

Forensic odontologist Alejandro Hernández Cárdenas of the Ciudad Juárez Forensic Science Laboratory has made a name for himself by rehydrating the bodies of the victims of crimes that go back yearś. It has become standard practice to inject glycerin into individual digits to reconstitute them for fingerprinting, but Hernández Cárdenas has developed a technique for reconstituting entire corpses. He immerses the bodies of the victims of violence in his Mexican border city that were stored or buried without being identified. His secret formula raises features on the skin including the prints, any tattoos or birthmarks, and lesions, and returns the internal organs almost to their condition at death. So far, his work has resulted in only a handful of identifications and solved crimes, and he tries to keep a low profile to be avoid becoming a target himself. But forensic scientists from around the world have taken note and he has applied for a patent. He began developing his formula in 2002, using ears and fingers from the lab that he placed in glass jars. When he arrived at work one morning, he found that one of the fingers had perfectly rehydrated and thought his co-workers were playing a trick on him. but he learned that his experiments had paid off when they assured him, “We don’t mess with your filthiness.”

 

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Varanasi

This is as close as I could come to an answer for my aide Marva, who asked me where the bodies that float down the Ganges in India end up. Varanasi is a sacred site along the river where the dead are cremated on burning ghats, stepped platforms that lead to the water. Hundreds of bodies are burned each day, from the relatives of the wealthy who employ untouchables and use expensive sandalwood to those of the less fortunate who do it themselves. Photographs of the ritual are strictly prohibited, but a tourist describes, "Each body is shrouded decoratively and carried down to the Ganges River where it is doused in its holy waters before the decorative shroud is removed and the body left shrouded in linen is carried to the pyre by family members. Placed on the pyre, additional wood is added and the eldest son touches off the tinder around the pyre with the aid of holy ghee (clarified butter) to assist the burning. It was important to keep our Western eyes and minds open with our prejudices at bay, since it is easy to be disturbed at the sight of partially burned bodies being prodded in the flames, limbs being broken off for the fire to consume and finally, when the body was almost fully burned, a bamboo pole being used to pierce the skull to allow the deceased's spirit to go free." Some corpses – those of holy men, pregnant women, suicides, the diseased, the poor, and small children – are not cremated but simply floated free. Cremated or not, the bodies are feasted on by vultures, scavenged for the gold and silver in their teeth, and allowed to decompose in the waters. The short answer is that I think there is not much left to pile up downriver.

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Rot receptor

The zebrafish (not to be confused with the invasive lionfish) has proven to be an excellent study subject because we share 71% of its genes. Like us – and unlike many other animals – this brightly colored fish, often found in home aquariums, is averse to the smell produced by rotting flesh. Researchers have identified the zebrafish's receptor for cadaverine and putrescine, the molecules given off by corpses as they decay. In studying the neural network of the fish, researchers from the University of Cologne, Germany, are puzzling out this evolutionary trait, which causes some animals to seek out carrion as food or a place to lay their eggs, but causes us to react strongly against being near bad meat. That may be only part of the reason the zebrafish (IMAGE OF EMBRYO ABOVE) swims away from the smell. Sigrun Korsching says, "It signals danger, if a dead body is lying around maybe the danger is still around. It could also signal that the meat is toxic and should not be eaten."

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Japanese memento mori

In 9th c. Japan lived Empress-Consort Tachibana no Kachiko (橘嘉智子). A very devout woman, she wanted to use her position to spread the teachings of Buddha. But her beauty was a constant distraction to her audience and she was unable to convey the principle of the transience of earthly life. Zack Davisson writes:

"When the Empress died at the age of 64—still beautiful—her last will and testament was opened, and shocked the entire royal family. Instead of a state funeral and proper internment, the Empress requested that her body be garbed in the simplest cloth, then flung onto the streets. When people saw her delicate flesh rot away, the meat of her body picked at by crows and wild dogs, and her beautiful body reduced to unlovely bones, at last they would understand the impermanence of things and perhaps learn the lesson she had been trying to teach them."

The location in Kyoto where Tachibana's body decayed is still known as Katabira no Tsuji (Crossroad of Corpses). Her posthumous act inspired a genre of Buddhist painting known as Kyuaizu (九相図), which functioned as memento mori, juxtaposing a person's beauty during life with the 9 stages of decay the body passed through after death. Above is the depiction of Stage 7, "Food for Beasts (噉食相)."

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Underwater answers

Earlier in the month, it was reported that a well-preserved body had been discovered in Lake Tahoe. A sport diver descending to a sunken boat offshore from Rubicon Point, California, spotted the body in a rock crevice and contacted authorities. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department used a remote operated vehicle to locate it, grasp it with a mechanical claw, and bring it to the surface. Because of the temperature (a constant 35 degrees) and pressure of the water at that depth (265'), the remains did not decay.

Dental records were used to identify the body. As suspected, the remains - still in scuba gear - were those of 44-year-old Reno resident Donald Christopher Windecker, last seen at a depth of 130' and descending with his breathing regulator out of his mouth. He had begun to experience difficulty with his equipment on the ascent. His friend and diving companion tried to help but, running out of air, was forced to surface and report him missing on that day in July 1994. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of Windecker's death 17 years ago. "His remains are in amazing physical condition. We'll be able to do a thorough autopsy. He may have had a heart attack or a stroke or maybe just ran out of air. Hopefully we'll determine what happened," said Sgt. Jim Byers.

Just beyond the ledge where Windecker's body was found, the lake plunges to a depth of 1,645'. The area is infamous for swallowing up victims, and its frigid waters preserve the remains of 4 more missing divers...

Marie Joseph

The questions are many and the facts are few about the events surrounding the death of a 36-year-old woman in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Sunday. As you may have heard, the body of Marie Joseph (1st image, holding the daughter of a friend) was found in a public swimming pool 2 days after her apparent drowning. During that interval, the pool remained open and was inspected twice.

Here are the facts:
On Sunday, Marie went to Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Pool (3rd image, from above) in Lafayette Park with neighbors. She was last seen at 1pm, but friends assumed she had gone home and did not report her missing. A 9-year-old boy whom Marie had been watching told a lifeguard that she had not surfaced after accidentally sliding down the water slide (shown in 2nd image) with him, but the guard did nothing. According to a friend of Marie's, the boy attempted to rescue her himself when he was ignored. “The little boy was trying to pull her back up, but he couldn’t. She was too heavy, and she was too slippery from the water.’’ Marie's body was found at 10pm on Tuesday by teenagers who jumped the locked fence for an after-hours swim

Here is the fallout:
Pool staffers have been suspended and the 2 city inspectors have been placed on paid leave. Two dozen state-run pools were temporarily closed, but are expected to reopen this weekend. Fall River mayor William Flanagan ordered the immediate inspection of 21 public and semi-public pools in the city, including hotel pools. The mayor and Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner Edward M. Lambert, Jr., held a press conference outside the pool yesterday. Governor Deval Patrick has ordered DCR to conduct an internal investigation into Marie’s death, but the state has agreed not to question the pool’s employees until the district attorney’s office does. Investigators are examining video footage from the pool while awaiting autopsy results, which could be released today.

Here are the questions:
Why would Marie have climbed the slide if she did not intend to slide down, and in fact could not swim? Why didn't the lifeguard respond to the boy's concern, and why didn't the boy bring the problem to the attention of any of the adults at the pool? How come none of the swimming patrons nor the 6 lifeguards on duty saw or came into contact with Marie's lifeless body? How was the body missed during the protocols for opening and closing the pool each day? How did inspectors, who closed the 12' deep end on Monday and Tuesday because the water was cloudy, fail to notice the submerged body? And why was the pool allowed to operate when the Health Department permit had expired 6 months earlier?

Marie is survived by her 5 children, her heartbroken partner of 8 years (on video here) who calls her death "a big shock," her father who called the circumstances "terrible...unbelievable," and her puzzled friends and neighbors who never knew her to frequent the pool. This is a mystery, a tragedy, a failure of the public trust, and certainly much more than a "teachable moment."

Follow-ups

Nuremberg Chronicle 4/20/11
Rare original King James Bible found in an English village church. Lincoln's signature found on the wall of an Illinois university.

All about birds lately 4/12/10 Bike trail near Chicago will run through rattlesnake habitat. The Egyptian cobra missing from the Bronx Zoo was found.

Over the moon 4/5/11 Canadian prisoner "roughed up" by dangerous cow. Farm animals found inside an Iowa home. Montana cow gives birth to rare set of triplets. Dotty the donkey receives award for saving sheep.

April fools 4/1/11 A 35-year-old man drove his car through the front window of a Massachusetts driving school. Mark Wright commented on this post, "You're right: they're very common - but not only in Florida. After recovering from being hit by a car that crashed into the Maryland convenience store I was exiting, I started StorefrontCrashes.com to track and discuss these accidents. Thanks for helping shine some light on this surprisingly stealthy safety problem!"

All aboard! 3/29/10 The day after this post, it was reported that an 8' mako shark had jumped into a boat in the Gulf of Mexico.

Acid alternative 3/24/11
My friend Angie writes, "I think it's actually a strong alkaline rather than acid.......and the remaining liquid is neutral enough to be flushed safely. The boffins at the Mayo have been using the technique for quite some time..."

A flamingo fell down 3/20/10 The flamingos in a Swedish zoo were massacred by the anteaters.

Fossil sex 3/19/11 Largest fossilized spider found in Mongolia. Discovery of the oldest flying insect imprint in Massachusetts.

Electroplating the dead 3/17/11 Thanks to Chase for this explanatory note: "While the thought of ending up on a knick-knack shelf in some hoarder's livingroom appeals to me may I point out a fatal flaw in Dr. Varlot's (!) method? Using a thin, usually copper, coating that acts as a base for electroplating an object is standard procedure HOWEVER his next step will leave a bit to be desired if used on a corpse, especially a nice juicy one. Putting the dearly departed into a vacuum will result in an at best really distorted sack of bio matter and an awful lot of precious body fluids sloshing about. The end result might look like your uncle Joe if viewed in a dark room and you squint a lot but that kind of takes the shine off the whole electroplating business, so to speak. Considering the price of silver nowadays I would do my research carefully. For those of us with limited budgets there is the alternative of a good inexpensive nickle plating that any autobody shop worth their salt can do for a couple of hundred bucks. "

Metaphor 3/12/11 A baby porpoise stranded in a rice paddy by the Japanese tsunami has been returned to the sea. Before and after images of the devastation in Japan, and the sound of the earthquake.

St. Catherine of Siena 3/8/11 In response to this post, Sue writes, "I think she looks very sweet, even as a mummy. It always delights me when something I've led you to is used on your blog."

Birds and dogs 3/4/11 Jackdaw befriends British schoolboy. Dog saves owner from Japanese tsunami. Fashionable bird on the Paris runway. Guide dog gets a guide dog. Man in Afghanistan kills birds and small mammals to keep runways safe. Owl rescued from engine after being hit by car, but had to be euthanized. Pet dog found alive in the rubble a month after a fire in Boston. Old bird lays new egg. Cache of 8 million dog mummies found in Egypt. The Transylvanian naked neck chicken a.k.a. the "churkey." A family in Florida is besieged by red-shouldered hawks. A bird in the dishwasher in Cleveland. Stolen ostrich runs home in Romania. British man opens hotel for chickens. In case you missed it on the news, here's the live link to a bald eagle's nest in Iowa.

Mummies guarded 1/30/11 Jasmine Day, author of The Mummy's Curse, wanted me to spread the word about this petition to protect the ancient Egyptian monuments, one of which has already been destroyed.

Lethal cocktail 1/25/11 The DEA seized Georgia's supply of thiopental. Execution drug import papers questioned in Arizona.

Stuck 11/24/10 An Ohio man was found stuck to the chair he had sat in for 2 years. Philadelphia woman trapped on her toilet for days.

Specimen swallowed 10/29/10 Chimpanzee meat on the black market in the U.K. Squirrel meat served in Edinburgh. Iguana meat siezed at the Texas-Mexican border. Raccoon meat stocked at South Carolina grocery store.

Lost languages 10/6/10 The last 2 speakers of a native Mexican language are not speaking to one another.

Double take 10/3/10 Another animal walking on its forelegs in China.

My monkey 9/14/10 A Virginia woman arrived for a court hearing with her monkey tucked into her bra. British monkeys given a car to play with.

Mirages 9/6/10 Optical illusion caused 3 suns to appear in sky over China. Then there were 2 suns seen in China's sky.

"Wonderful tombs" 8/23/10 Thousands of tombs in the Saudi Arabian desert are spotted on Google Earth images from space.

Ancient spirits 8/19/10 Ancient Nubians used beer as antibiotic.

Steampunk design 7/21/09 Thanks to Chase for the link to this post and this blog.

Churchill's choppers 7/16/10 A thrifty 19th c. Wisconsin widow retrofits her dead husband's dentures for her own mouth.

Zahi Hawass 7/15/10 It was reported in early March that Hawass would not stay on as chief antiquities official in the new Egyptian government. He resigned, but was reappointed by the end of the month. He is appealing a court ruling that sentences him to prison for a year.

Antique chocolates 6/10/10 A wedding cake from the 1890s!

Crafty bees 5/14/10 Founder of Burt's Bees cosmetics wants to donate land in Maine for a national park. Attacking bees close Phoenix intersection. Beekeeper describes attack.

"Comfort station" makeovers 5/4/10 Public restroom in Boston will reopen as a sandwich shop.

Corpses in strange places 4/6/10 In a grocery store (for a matter of minutes). A soccer game in Colombia (for hours). In her cubicle at work (for nearly a day). Riding around in the passenger seat of his friend's car (for 3 days). In an Orlando Walmart parking lot (for days). In the home of her son, a horror filmmaker (for a year). In his apartment in Sweden (for 3 years). In a hoarder's home. In the foyer of the home she shared with her adult twin sons. In the closet of the room her grandson was having sex in. In a pest control truck. On top of a 1,000' radio tower. In a New Mexico emergency room (after decomposition had already set in).

Auto-appendectomy 3/29/10 Leonid Rogozov had to remove his own appendix in 1961 while in Antarctica. The 1st U.S. research station at the South Pole was blown up.

He Pingping 3/16/10 Nepalese teenager Junrey Balawing (1st image) set to become world's shortest man in June.

Evelyn McHale 3/2/10 I got a welcome comment from Gary Wright: "Evelyn was my Aunt. That note sounds right to me because my Grandma was a bit of a fruitcake (God bless her soul). I was born in '49 but remember my mother (Helen) speaking of this tragic event."

Ironic deaths 2/4/10 Wrongly convicted man killed in workplace accident. Funeral home owner dies while transporting body.

Sinkholes 1/12/10 Florida woman's yard swallows her up.

Happy New Year! 1/1/10 Audio slideshow of world's only ice musician.

Gibson guitar 12/31/09 Swedish police seize a shotgun disguised as a guitar.

Smilodon 12/21/09 The mechanics of the saber-toothed tiger's bite.

Flying fish 11/29/09 It rained earthworms on a school in Scotland.

Cloaca 11/17/09 An art project involving the preserved poop of William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).

Stone/House 11/19/09 New Zealand earthquake dislodges 30-ton boulder. A 1,000-ton sandstone boulder crashed into a house in Montana.

Circus animals on the lam 11/13/09 A herd of goats wanders onto the I-5 in Sacramento. A deer crashes through a Minnesota couple's window and ends up in the closet. Loose llama on the attack in Cleveland. Raccoons chasing people from the Washington, D.C., metro. A fox was living on top of a skyscraper in London. Spider monkey killed in traffic in North Carolina. Komodo dragons escaped from an Indonesian zoo. Goat wanders into Idaho music store. Two cars stopped in England had 16 lambs inside. Tortoise stolen from zoo in Colorado. Five goats found wandering the streets of New Jersey.

White Bengal tiger 9/29/09 Woman drives off a tiger attacking her husband in Malaysia.

Creative cremains 7/24/09 The idea of mixing human ashes with paper pulp to make a book - a "bibliocadaver" - was just a joke. But Raven Collins will incorporate human ashes into a painted portrait. Man's ashes are stolen from church before funeral in California.

Spontaneous human combustion 6/9/09 A mysterious recent occurrence in which a man was "engulfed in flames" for no known reason.

Elusive animals 6/4/09 Images of rare Javan rhinoceros caught by motion-sensor camera. Frog in India reemerges after a century. New rodent discovered in Brazil.

Rossetti's menagerie 5/1/09 A depressed wombat.

Prosimians 4/25/09 Tarsier's resemblance to Yoda (2nd image). Richard Branson plans to create lemur colony on undeveloped Caribbean island he owns.

Bears in the news 4/24/09 Australian customs surprised by bear's head. Swedish boy accidentally disturbs, and is attacked by, hibernating bear. Berlin's Knut died and people are protesting plans to preserve and exhibit his remains in a museum.

Robo-animals 4/9/09 Miniature horse in Texas given artificial leg. Florida orthodontist repairs turtles' shells. A turtle rescued in Florida had eaten so much debris in the ocean that it "pooped plastic for a month." A pet turtle causes a house fire in Brooklyn.

Cyclops 4/3/09 One-eyed baby dies shortly after birth.

Centenarians - and then some 3/26/09 Frank Buckles, the last living U.S. World War II veteran, died at 110. North Carolina native Hollace Wells died at 102. Twins reach 100 in Oregon. Frank Neuhauser, winner of 1st national spelling bee, died at 97. Houdini's last surviving stage assistant, Dorothy Young, died at 103. Buster Martin, marathon runner at 101, died. Sally Gordon retires at 102 "while she's still young." U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown is still hearing federal cases at the age of 103. World's oldest man Walter Breuning died aged 114, so title passed to Jirouemon Kimura at 114.

Disturbingly young parents 2/14/09 A grandmother at age 23.

First U.S. face transplant! 12/17/08 First full face transplant in U.S. performed in Boston.

Traumatic skull injuries 11/25/08 Chinese man had a knife in his skull for 4 years. Scientists believe they may be able to predict future antisocial behavior in scans of children's brains.

Amputation 10/19/08 Sleeping man run over by mulching machine. Man dies after falling into pasta machine. Canadian man's prosthetic leg is stolen from his house and California man's prosthetic leg is stolen from his backyard. Patient with only one limb injures nurse. America's most injured soldier D.J. Skelton redeploys to Afghanistan. One-legged college wrestler has perfect season and wins national title. Outstanding penmanship awarded to student born with no hands.

Contaminated corpses

The bodies of a great number of victims of Japan's March 11th earthquake and tsunami have not been recovered. That includes an estimated 1,000 that were not even searched for because they were within the 12-mile “exclusion zone” established around the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. Radiation released into the air and ocean at the plant has contaminated everything in the area, including human remains. The bodies near the plant are potentially dangerous to handle or move, and now that nearly a month has passed since the disaster, decontaminating them is rapidly becoming impossible. The protocols for managing materials (including dead bodies) contaminated with radiation may preclude allowing the survivors to follow the Japanese custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes with those of family members. Guidelines issued in the U.S. by the National Council on Radiation Safety and the Centers for Disease Control call for deep burial in a sealed container marked by radiation warning symbols. There is a way to make externally-contaminated bodies safe for cremation, but it is almost certain that the victims' remains would now no longer be intact enough to be washed or wiped off. Two workers who were killed at the nuclear power plant were washed, decontaminated, autopsied, and cremated, but it may be impossible even to identify the bodies of other victims. Their nails can be extracted for DNA testing, but these would also need to be decontaminated.

The international community, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, is awaiting a plan by the Japanese governmant's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to handle the situation. Kyoko Tokuno, senior lecturer of East Asian religions at University of Washington in Seattle, explains the gravity of the circumstances to the Japanese people: “They say the worst case is when you don’t have anything to bury or cremate, that’s why the surviving family members are desperate. What they want to do is bring back the remains, which presumes finding the bod[ies] and cremating them. One of the things that is important to people is that family members are buried together. To be scattered all over is not comforting. Being buried together … is very comforting. If the government and TEPCO do not pay attention and delay the proper treatment of people in terms of basic necessities — including how they treat the deceased in terms of tradition — there may be some serious consequences. I think there will be an outcry.”

Thanks, Sue!

Electroplating the dead

In the book of morbid trivia I was reading, there was mention of a French doctor who devised a way of preserving corpses by coating them with a layer of metal. The account, dated to the turn of the 20th c. (and illustrated by the 1st image), is repeated exponentially and word-for-word on the web:

"Dr. Varlot, a surgeon in a major hospital in Paris, has developed a method of covering the body of a deceased person with a layer of metal in order to preserve it for eternity. The drawing illustrates how this is done with the cadaver of a child. The body is first made electrically conductive by atomising nitrate of silver on to it. To free the silver in this solution, the object is placed under a glass dome from which the air is evacuated and exposed to the vapours of white phosphorous dissolved in carbon disulphide. Having been made conductive, the body is immersed in a galvanic bath of sulphate of copper, thus causing a 1 millimetre thick layer of metallic copper to be deposited on the skin. The result is a brilliant red copper finish of exceptional strength and durability."

It sounds plausible and the blogger quoted above references the book Victorian Inventions, but sources the image to the macabre illustrations of American cartoonist Charles Addams (1912-1988). I wasn't satisfied that the story was authentic, and kept searching. I found mention of an earlier French patent granted in 1857 to Eugene Theodore Noualhier, whose process is quoted as follows:

"First stop all the apertures with modellers' wax, or some other convenient material, and place the dead animal body, which may be a human corpse, in a suitable attitude, and spread over the skin, which is of a greasy nature, a layer of a suitable metallic salt; we use in preference pulverized nitrate of silver, which is very easily applied; this salt then penetrates into the pores of the skin, and when a sufficient quantity of nitrate of silver has been thus applied to the body in question, by means of a brush or otherwise, it is then put into a bath of sulphate of copper, and, the galvanic current being established, the whole surface soon becomes covered with a metallic deposit of copper of the requisite thickness, the result being a metallic mummy."

The newspaper clippings make it a little more convincing, but I wondered if such a thing had been tried (and documented) in the United States. Bingo! A patent was issued in 1934 to Levon G. Kassabian for his Method of Preserving Dead Bodies, which is illustrated above (image 2) and summarized below:

"The herein described method of preserving dead bodies, which consists in coating the entire surface of the body to be preserved with wax, then applying to the wax coated body a thin layer or coating of a copper containing solution, then winding the body with copper wire so as to completely enclose same then applying braces to the neck and feet portions of the wire bound body, which braces are provided with electric terminals and then electroplating the wire wound coated body."

You can read the entire patent application here.

Follow-ups

2/1/11 Alpine ibex Follower Priscilla notes, "We never talk about the ones that end up crashing. That would be natural selection improving the herd. It does happen occasionally." Both my Dad and follower Kent report seeing dead mountain goats at the bottom of cliffs.

1/27/11 Cave pearls Chinese cavern classroom closed down.

1/22/11 The moral of the story is obvious What the train conductor sees (not bloody, but caution). Man filmed himself being run over by a train.

12/27/10 Tortoise cold, tortoise hot "Lonesome George" still looking for love. It was so cold in Minnesota that a squirrel froze in place.

12/23/10 Snowplow flambe This story reminded a reader of this. Woman in Ekaterinburg sets fire to her dead sister trying to reanimate her with electricity. Caskets, corpse, and cremated remains rescued from burning Michigan funeral home.

12/18/10 600 years apart Ohio murderer who stuffed his victims' bodies in a hollow tree was obsessed with leaves and has been sentenced to life in prison.

11/15/10 Scratchings Ancient rock carvings in East Timor. Microbes responsible for colors in Australian rock art.

11/13/10 The naked ape A gorilla in the U.K. that walks upright.

11/10/10 In Pompeii... Skeletons reveal new insights about Roman family life.

10/29/10 Specimen swallowed Indonesian man caught smuggling dozens of rare animals out of Thailand. Ghanaian man tries to enter U.S. with suitcase filled with "spiritual items." Illegal moose meat siezed in Canada. Arizona restaurant adds lion tacos to the menu, then reconsiders.

10/4/10 Drunk animals Spike gets scrubbed. Alaskan reindeer eat magic mushrooms. German police arrest drunk owl. Romanian bird deaths were caused by alcohol poisoning. Meanwhile, Alabama birds were "whacked by something big" and South Dakota birds were killed in USDA avicide program. (More bird deaths here.)

7/19/10 Ancient spirits Vandals chop 500-year-old grapevine in Austria. Archaeologists find 2,400-year-old soup in China. Oldest known winery found in Armenia.

6/16/10 The most interesting person in the world He really has led an interesting life...

6/12/10 Discovered documents Wisconsin school discovers 340-year-old Bible in their possession.

6/5/10 Body burden Effects of BP oil spill showing up in human blood.

5/24/10 Glass harmonica Musical score hidden in the facade of a Renaissance church.

5/15/10 Great molasses flood The 92nd anniversary.

4/9/10 Of 2 minds about wolves Russian town terrorized by "super-pack" of 400 wolves. Norwegian boy fends off wolves with music by Creed.

4/6/10 Corpses in strange places Body found in freezer of New Mexico home. Bodies double-stacked in the Cook County morgue. Father's mummified body found in wardrobe in son's apartment in Japan. (Make your own mummy here and your own shrunken head here.)

4/3/10 18th c. French hairstyles for women Creator of the beehive hairstyle is honored.

3/26/10 Tarim mummies travel China has pulled the Beauty of Xiaohe from the exhibit.

3/13/10 Census 2010 Remarkable interactive census map of the U.S.

3/5/10 Napoleon's hair Another lock sells at auction.

3/2/10 Evelyn McHale Argentine woman jumps from hotel, but is saved when she lands on a car. Strange story of a hotel suicide caught on film.

3/1/10 Treasure trove Jewelry stash discovered in a used book. Discovery of ornamental sword in wreck of Blackbeard's ship.

2/9/10 Green burial Willow coffins available from English company.

1/19/10 Kite-fighting Kite photography by a Dutch artist. Texas man builds and flies world's largest kites.

1/7/10 Thwarted Two-thirds of the Jews killed in the Holocaust have now been identified by name.

12/23/09 Child heroes Toddler calls for help to save her Mom.

12/19/09 Nero's dining room Ancient Roman "super-highway" discovered in England. Caligula's tomb found south of Rome.

12/7/09 Rose round-up Celery genes help roses last longer.

11/22/09 Oasis and airbus The over-the-top amenities of forthcoming cruise ships. Planned $1.1 billion private yacht.

11/13/09 Circus animals on the lam Car strikes pet pig in Connecticut. German man allowed to take his pet tiger on walks. California sea lion found miles from water. Colorado couple finds a scorpion in the house. Idaho house infested with snakes. Dangerous monkey has escaped in Japan for the 2nd time. Loose emu shot and killed in Maryland. South African man pulled over for drunk driving had 6 passengers and 15 sheep in the car. Zebras shot after escaping from California ranch. A Siberian tiger escaped from a Chinese breeding center and killed a bus driver in full view of his passengers.

11/12/09 Placentas and more Doctors in Berlin capture 1st live MRI images of childbirth. Girl of 3 is youngest survivor of breast cancer. Artist Damien Hirst offends bereaved parents by using a fetal skull in his latest work.

11/5/09 Conjoined twins Two-headed turtle in Turkey. Conjoined lambs in Colorado. Conjoined camels (pictured) in Saudi Arabia. Two-headed cow born in country of Georgia.

10/30/09 Tree mummies Fossilized forests found in the Arctic and the Antarctic. Ice Age fossil cache found in Colorado.

10/27/09 Docking cow tails Cow gives birth to triplets! Cow attack in Florida. Cow that escaped slaughterhouse moves to new sanctuary. Woman hit by flying cow while pregnant gives birth.

10/22/09 Birds in fable and fact Crows use tools to explore dangerous objects.

10/17/09 Lizard lore Satanic leaf-tailed gecko born in San Diego Zoo. Orange alligator spotted in Florida. Cell phone rings inside Ukrainian crocodile. Taxidermied crocodile from 19th c. sold at auction.

9/23/09 Optical illusions What are possibly the world's oldest optical illusions found in France.

8/12/09 Mona Lisa(s) Numbers discovered in the eyes of the Mona Lisa. Hidden literary references in the painting's composition. Landscape depicted has been identified.

8/9/09 Adventurers Club Chinese farmer builds fully-equipped treehouse.

8/6/09 Castaways, real and imagined Daniel Defoe stranded on an island off the coast of Scotland.

7/24/09 Creative cremains Open-air cremations offered in Colorado. U.K. plan to heat swimming pool by way of crematorium next door. Woman in Ireland swept out to sea and drowned while scattering her sister's ashes. Urn containing wife's ashes stolen from Colorado man's house. Thieves of the ashes of a Florida woman's father mistook them for cocaine and snorted some of them!

6/20/09 Placing of stones Standing stone in Scotland falls over. My yoga instructor Cathy has identified a stone she thought may have been carved by human hands as a ventifact.

6/18/09 Birthing and hoarding bunnies Hundreds of animals - including 2 tigers - seized in Texas. Hay airlifted to starving horses in Montana. Seventy-eight bunnies taken from home in Maryland.

6/9/09 Spontaneous human combustion Possible case in Ireland.

6/4/09 Elusive animals Harpy eagles return to Belize after 60-year absence. Bornean bay cat seen for the 1st time since 2003.

5/30/09 Clown's funeral Two clowns were killed in Mexico in an alleged drug gang hit.

5/8/09 Species named after Stephen Colbert Name a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach after your sweetheart.

5/4/09 Vultures Saudis arrest vulture for spying. High-tech attempt to vanquish vultures in Florida. Vultures wintering in Virginia.

5/2/09 Chihuahuas in the weird news Iowa dog survives being shot with an arrow. Iron Age dog guarded ancient treasure. Rescuers adopt dog found stranded on an iceberg in the Baltic Sea. Hermaphrodite dog has surgery. Dogs fed on owner's decomposing body in Kentucky. A blind man lost his seeing eye dog in Florida.

5/1/09 Rossetti's menagerie Wombat nuisance in Australian national park.

4/27/09 Mastectomy tattoos A reader shares her tattoo and says, "I cannot say how choosing art versus traditional reconstruction can empower you."

4/24/09 Ocean garbage dump Oregon professor claims reports of Pacific garbage patch are exaggerated.

4/24/09 Bears in the news Prehistoric bones of largest-ever bear found in Argentina. Escaped Arizona prisoner decides against suicide-by-bear.

4/21/09 Marlin Perkins A reader kindly posted the link to the Wild Kingdom episode I couldn't find in which Marlin and Stan struggle mightily with an anaconda!

4/12/09 Flightless birds Australians warned to stay away from dangerous cassowaries. Woman in Hawaii found not guilty of cruelty in killing peacock. Cockfighting rooster kills its owner in India.

3/26/09 Centenarians - and then some Wal-Mart greeter, 100, thwarts theft in Wisconsin. Illinois' oldest resident dies at 111 and Florida's oldest dies at 112. Missouri centenarian delivers Meals-on-Wheels. World's oldest dies at 115.

3/12/09 Shark attack capital Shark survival story in Australia. Bull sharks seen in flooded Australian streets. Man escapes leopard attack in South Africa.

2/12/09 Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday The body of Italy's best-loved TV quiz show host has been stolen from the tomb.

2/3/09 Polydactyly Chinese boy with 31 fingers and toes. California newborn has 24 digits.

12/14/08 Dendrochronology Roman rise and fall recorded in tree rings.

11/22/08 Facial reconstruction Another ancient bog body has been given a face.

10/19/08 Amputation Swedish man's penis mistakenly amputated. Tree surgeon slices neck with chain saw. Tortilla factory worker killed by mixing machine. Really cool custom prosthetic legs. More images of gruesome bread art.

10/15/08 Hot air balloon fatalities Man dies of fall in Alps after surviving balloon crash. Meanwhile, the owner of the Segway company fell off a cliff and died while riding one.

9/29/08 Kutna Hora ossuary My friend George's latest artistic creation.

9/28/08 Nadar and the Paris catacombs The adventures of cataphiles, brought to you on NPR.

9/25/08 Traumatic skull injuries Knife penetrates cheek of Chinese boy.

9/21/08 Yellowstone National park is bulging with magma. Witness a volcanic island being born in the Solomon Islands.

9/20/08 While They Slept My friend Franck has started a blog called Boisterous Mirth and mentioned me in the 1st post.