How Thor’s Hammer Made Its Way Onto Soldiers’ Headstones

By
10 July 2013
2 min read
Leave a comment
In History, Politics, Rights
967 views

To summarise, Thor’s hammer represents heroism, nobility, self-reliance, and honour. It’s a symbol with a history that extends back a thousand years to pre-Christian Europe. And adherents of Odinism, the religion that Thor’s hammer represents, tend to make natural soldiers. Oh, and it also shares a pretty strong cultural heritage with a superhero who is, in his own weird, Technicolor, space viking way, as American as apple pie. How strange would it be, then, if the US Department of Veterans Affairs — the organisation that oversees cemeteries dedicated to US veterans and ultimately says which symbols can be used therein to represent your religious faith — had a problem with Thor’s hammer?

But for decades, the VA did have a problem with Thor’s hammer. Not so much for what Mjölnir stood for but because it was a pagan symbol, and pagan symbols were verboten.

If you look at all the symbols the Department of Veterans Affairs have approved for use on headstones over the years, pagan symbols were really the final frontier, Pitzl-Waters says. Hinduism, Humanists, Atheists, all these other symbols had been approved. But there wasn’t a single pagan symbol on the approved list — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Bold + Shy, Maned Wolf Pups / Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

By
10 July 2013
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Wildlife
934 views
Bold + Shy, Maned Wolf Pups / Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

The onset of summer for the Animal Care staff at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, means patiently awaiting endangered-animal births, hand raising youngsters, and saying farewell to cubs that are ready to be matched with mates. All of the species—which range in International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List status from near threatened to endangered—are significant and represent great conservation successes.

One of the new births of these important animals were two male Maned Wolf pups, born on 14 April to 2-year-old female Vitani and 8-year-old male, Paul. The pups received a clean bill of health at their first veterinary exam, appearing robust and healthy. Keepers have nicknamed the pups Bold and Shy for their distinctive personalities — via ZooBorns)

Melbourne man who tortured and executed his own brother-in-law

By
9 July 2013
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Weird
960 views

This is Yeng Jun Wu — a bankrupt businessman who was jailed for 27 years after brutally murdering his brother-in-law and removing his brain.

Supreme Court Justice Terry Forrest said that in his 35 years in criminal law he had never seen a crime as appallingly and gratuitously violent.

Justice Forrest said Yeng Jun Wu’s torture and execution of his brother-in-law Shao Qing Victor Chen and the subsequent defiling of his body were aggravating factors of his offending.

Mr Chen had most likely been asleep when Wu, who owed him more than $250,000, set upon him in his bedroom with a heavy, sharp weapon believed to be a machete or an axe.
Advertisement

He was struck repeatedly before being coerced down the stairs and killed despite trying to ward off the murderous attack, Justice Forrest said on Tuesday.

Mr Chen’s distraught wife, Yan Yan Wang, was in tears as the judge described how during the attack, Wu removed Mr Chen’s brain and placed it near his head — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Evita, Giant Anteater / Zoo Berlin

By
9 July 2013
47 second read
Leave a comment
In Wildlife
1024 views
Evita, Giant Anteater / Zoo Berlin

Zoo Berlin welcomed a baby Giant Anteater on 26 May. The baby, named Evita by her keepers, is a female. The name was chosen because E is the fifth letter in the alphabet, and this is mom Griseline’s fifth surviving baby. Before Evita there were Adolpho, Benita, Carlos, and Danita, all born at Berlin Zoo. Evita is being hand-fed by keepers and receives three additional bottle meals per day — via ZooBorns

Female inmates sterilised in California prisons without approval

By
8 July 2013
2 min read
Leave a comment
In Health, Politics, Rights
1064 views

Doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilised nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010 without required state approvals, the Centre for Investigative Reporting has found.

At least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules during those five years — and there are perhaps 100 more dating back to the late 1990s, according to state documents and interviews.

From 1997 to 2010, the state paid doctors $147,460 to perform the procedure, according to a database of contracted medical services for state prisoners.

The women were signed up for the surgery while they were pregnant and housed at either the California Institution for Women in Corona or Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, which is now a men’s prison.

Former inmates and prisoner advocates maintain that prison medical staff coerced the women, targeting those deemed likely to return to prison in the future.

Crystal Nguyen, a former Valley State Prison inmate who worked in the prison’s infirmary during 2007, said she often overheard medical staff asking inmates who had served multiple prison terms to agree to be sterilised.

I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not right,’ said Nguyen, 28. Do they think they’re animals, and they don’t want them to breed anymore? — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Mechanical Spider Sculpture No 26 / A Mechanical Mind

By
8 July 2013
57 second read
Leave a comment
In Craft, Wildlife
930 views
Mechanical Spider Sculpture No 26 / A Mechanical Mind

Spider No 26 was made with recycled watch parts and an automotive light bulb. In order to create the legs, forty-eight watch stems must be cut in different sizes to simulate the organic appearance of real spiders’ legs, which vary in size and shape between species. Each of these segments is carefully arranged into a leg and soldered at the joints with lead free, silver bearing solder. Each side of four legs is then soldered together at the base, forming what looks like a claw — via Etsy

Brazilian referee beheaded by spectators after he fatally stabs player

By
7 July 2013
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Weird
917 views

Police in northern Brazil say one man has been arrested after a referee who fatally stabbed a player during a match was decapitated by spectators who stormed the field.

Local reports said the incident, which took place on 30 June in the remote Brazilian town of Pio XII, escalated when the player, 30-year-old Josenir dos Santos, became involved in an argument with the referee, Octavio da Silva.

As the confrontation became physical and Dos Santos refused to leave the field, Da Silva allegedly produced a knife and stabbed the player, who died while being taken to hospital.

Reports said that outraged spectators responded by running on to the field and stoning Da Silva, before severing his head and sticking it on a stake in the middle of the field — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Dogs in Elk / Anne Verchick

By
7 July 2013
55 second read
Leave a comment
In Weird, Wildlife
1064 views
They’re inside of it. They crawled inside, and now I have a giant incredibly heavy piece of carcass in my yard, with 2 dogs inside of it, and they are not getting bored of it and coming out. One of them is snoring. I have company arriving in three hours, and my current plan is to 1. put up a tent over said carcass and 2. hang thousands of fly strips inside it. This has been going on since about 6:40 this morning — via Robert Burke

Mindscapes: First man to hear people before they speak

By
6 July 2013
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Health, Science
1055 views

PH is the first confirmed case of someone who hears people speak before registering the movement of their lips. His situation is giving unique insights into how our brains unify what we hear and see.

It’s unclear why PH’s problem started when it did — but it may have had something to do with having acute pericarditis, inflammation of the sac around the heart, or the surgery he had to treat it.

Brain scans after the timing problems appeared showed two lesions in areas thought to play a role in hearing, timing and movement. Where these came from is anyone’s guess, says PH. They may have been there all my life or as a result of being in intensive care — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Craft, Entertainment

The Internet / KineticGifts

By
5 July 2013
44 second read
Leave a comment
In Craft, Entertainment
841 views

This is The Internet. It is wireless and can normally be found at the top of Big Ben in London, where it gets the best reception. Whether you are looking for novelty for your desk, somewhere to hide your secrets or a subject for a speech to the shareholders, The Internet is a unique and fun tribute to this hilarious joke from The IT Crowd — via Etsy

Octopus inspires silent propulsion system for boats and subs

By
4 July 2013
2 min read
Leave a comment
In Technology, Wildlife
851 views

Along with their writhing tentacles, octopi and squid sport another interesting feature — they swim not by swishing a tail, but by expelling a jet of water. This allows them to move very quickly and quietly. Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation have now copied this system, in a propulsion system that could ultimately find use in boats, recreational watercraft, or submarines.

Known as the Octopus Siphon Actuator, the miniature prototype system consists of four joined 20 x 6cm elastomer balls, each with a hydraulic piston inside. Initially, water is sucked in through an opening in each ball – just as a squid or octopus draws water into its mantle. Cables integrated into the balls then cause them to contract, rapidly expelling the water.

In the same way that the animals steer themselves by moving the funnel that the water comes out of, the Fraunhofer system can also be steered, using a motor to selectively point the balls in the desired direction(s).

The whole apparatus can be fabricated in one step, using a 3D printer. Production could reportedly be scaled up to the point of producing balls measuring two metres across. According to Fraunhofer, not only would a commercial version of the technology allow for fast and near-silent travel, but there would also be no danger of sea creatures being cut by propellers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Previous 3 4 56 7 Next