Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Science Debunks Halloween, Part 3: No Ghosts
Using Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion, scientists have demonstrated that ghosts would not be able to walk and pass through walls
In movies such as “Ghostbusters”, ghosts often walk like humans, pass through walls and pick up objects. But that portrayal cannot be accurate, Efthimiou says. For ghosts to have the ability to walk like humans, they would need to put a force upon the floor, which would exert an equal and opposite force in return.
But ghosts' ability to pass through walls and have humans walk right through them demonstrates that they cannot apply any force. LINK
Ghosts, Vampires and Zombies: Cinema Fiction vs Physics Reality. 2006. C.J. Efthimiou, and S. Gandhi.
The Classic "Lonesome Ghosts":
Science Debunks Halloween, Part 2: No Zombies
"These popular myths make for a lot of Halloween fun and great movies with special effects, but they just don't hold up to the strict tests of science," Efthimiou said.
After the boy was buried, he returned in an incoherent state, and Haitians pronounced that a sorcerer had raised him from the dead in the state of a zombie.
Science, however, has a less-supernatural explanation. A highly-toxic substance called tetrodotoxin is found in a breed of puffer fish native to Haitian waters. Contact with this substance generally results in a rapid death. However, in some cases, the right dose of the toxin will result in a state that mimics death and slows vital signs to a level that is unable to be measured. Eventually, the victim snaps out of the death-like coma and returns to his or her regular condition.
Scientific analysis has shown that oxygen deprivation is consistent with the boy's brain damage and his incoherent state.
"It would seem that zombiefication is nothing more than a skillful act of poisoning," Efthimiou said. LINK
Ghosts, Vampires and Zombies: Cinema Fiction vs Physics Reality. 2006. C.J. Efthimiou, and S. Gandhi.
See more Halloween treats over at the Digital Dream Machine Blog
Monday, October 30, 2006
Science Debunks Halloween, Part 1: No Vampires
Basic math disproves the legend of humans turning into vampires after they are bitten, Efthimiou explains, because the entire human population in 1600 would have been wiped out in less than three years.
Movies such as "Dracula" suggest that vampires feed on human blood and that once a human has been bitten, he or she turns into a vampire and begins feeding on other humans. To disprove the existence of vampires, Efthimiou relied on a basic math principle known as geometric progression.
Efthimiou supposed that the first vampire arrived Jan. 1, 1600, when the human population was 536,870,911. Assuming that the vampire fed once a month and the victim turned into a vampire, there would be two vampires and 536,870,910 humans on Feb. 1. There would be four vampires on March 1 and eight on April 1. If this trend continued, all of the original humans would become vampires within two and a half years and the vampires' food source would disappear.
"In the long run, humans cannot survive under these conditions, even if our population were doubling each month," Efthimiou said. "And doubling is clearly way beyond the human capacity of reproduction." LINK
Ghosts, Vampires and Zombies: Cinema Fiction vs Physics Reality. 2006. C.J. Efthimiou, and S. Gandhi.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Gamma Rays From M87
Much more surprising was the discovery of drastic gamma-ray flux variations on time-scales of days. These results, for the first time, exclude all possible options for sites of gamma-ray production, except for the most exciting and extraordinary one: the immediate vicinity of the super-massive black hole which is located in the centre of M 87
Link: Science Express, October 26, 2006.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body
Watch the Living Dead Girl:
Rob Zombie knows his sources….!
Future Warning Signs
Warning Signs by Arenamontanus.
Thanks to Neatorama for the tip!
Welcome to the future!:
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
John Peel's Record Collection
John Peel left his coveted collection of more than 25,000 records to his wife in his will, it emerged last night. Sheila Ravenscroft will also receive the legendary Radio 1 DJ's estate, valued at more than £1.5m.
Ravenscroft was granted the 25,000 vinyl albums and thousands of CDs after Peel, who died in October 2004, failed to specifically assign them in his will. In typically laid-back fashion, he said: "I ask her (but without imposing any binding obligation) to give effect to any wishes of mine which may come to her attention as to their disposal."
Peel's four children were left more than £250,000 in trust to be split between them. Peel enjoyed national acclaim in a career that spanned over 40 years and included Radio 4.
More John Peel from the BBC.
One of John’s many favourite bands, The Undertones, performing one of John’s favourite songs, “Teenage Kicks”:
Here’s the band in 2005 with a different singer.