If anything happened in the news over the last few days that might put a smile on your face, you will probably find it on this list. For the weirder stuff that is likely to bemuse or astound you, check the offbeat list as well.

We have quite a few touching animal stories this week. There’s talk of a hero pit bull, an elusive black leopard, and the adorable pairing of a beagle and a possum. Then there’s also the oldest-known wild bird in the world which became a mom for the 30-something time.

10 Happy Little Impersonators

Texas students organized a Bob Ross flash mob to pay homage to the late art instructor and television host.

Ross started presenting The Joy of Painting in 1983. The show ran for 11 years on PBS, and its host became well-known for his Afro, his calm and soothing voice, and his overall friendly demeanor. It was a far cry from the two decades that Ross had spent in the Air Force as a mean sergeant who screamed at cadets to “scrub the latrine.”

Bob Ross died in 1995. He has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the last few years as the Internet made his show easily accessible and a new generation was exposed to his wholesomeness.

That’s how art teacher Brady Sloane from Madison Middle School in Abilene, Texas, got the idea for a Bob Ross flash mob to reward Advanced Placement students who were stressed out over grades and projects.

Around 50 kids donned wigs and button-down blue shirts and grabbed their palettes of paint to create some “happy little accidents.”^[1]

9 The Pit Bull Protector

Sadie the 11-year-old pit bull escaped her home and brought police back to her house where they detected a gas leak.

One afternoon, residents of a quiet neighborhood in Westchester County, New York, were disturbed by a commotion caused by one dog roaming the streets and barking loudly. Eventually, someone called the authorities. When police showed up, Sadie took off.

Making sure they were still following her, the dog led officers through several streets all the way back to the house where she lives with Serena Costello and her four-year-old daughter. There, police were quickly able to smell gas. They called in the fire department who detected a leak in the basement.^[2]

According to authorities, the leak could have caused an explosion. Sadie’s early detection likely saved her and her family. This was the first time in 11 years that the pit bull had run away from home, and the inside of the house showed signs of her determination. There were bloody claw marks as Sadie had to dig out a blocker under a sliding glass door to make her exit.

8 A Greener Earth

A new study from Boston University published in the journal Nature Sustainability used data from NASA to show that the planet is greener now than it was 20 years ago.

Most environmental news seems to be doom and gloom, so it’s good to learn about something positive every now and then. Research showed that the Earth has seen a 5 percent increase of green leaf areas compared to the early 2000s, or roughly 5.18 million square kilometers (2 million mi²) of added greening per year.^[3]

This insight comes to us courtesy of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). It is a NASA instrument which has been aboard two satellites orbiting our planet since the mid-1990s. It can provide information regarding Earth’s vegetation down to a level of 500 meters (1,600 ft) on the ground.

Perhaps even more surprising are the main sources for the greening of the planet: China and India. Both countries have seen significant increases in vegetation thanks to ambitious foresting programs and intensive agriculture.

7 Back In Black

A wildlife photographer snatched a photo of the exceedingly rare wild black leopard, possibly for the first time in over 100 years.

British shutterbug Will Burrard-Lucas traveled to the Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya after hearing reports of sightings of the elusive creature. Such tales are not unheard-of throughout Africa, but the last time someone managed to obtain confirmed photographic evidence was in 1909 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The chances of Burrard-Lucas being the one to obtain a new snapshot were remote, to say the least.

Nevertheless, the wildlife photographer went to Africa and set up his camera traps. The first few days yielded no results. But one morning, he was scrolling through photos taken the previous night and saw a pair of eyes surrounded by darkness.^[4] He had managed to capture multiple images of a leopard whose coat is sooty black due to a pigment adaptation called melanism.

Around the same time, a team of researchers from San Diego Zoo Global traveled to the wilderness camp and managed to capture video footage of a black leopard. Their study discusses both their findings and Burrard-Lucas’s photos.

The claims that these images are the first in over a century have been controversial. A Kenyan newspaper photographed a black leopard in 2013. But study lead author Dr. Nicholas Pilfold says that the animal was not wild and was brought from America as a cub. Another picture from 2007 has recently resurfaced in light of recent events. If genuine, it would predate them all.

6 A Dedicated Mother

The world’s oldest-known wild bird has become a mother again at age 68. Wisdom the Laysan albatross laid an egg back in December, and it hatched earlier this month.

Laysan albatrosses mate for life and only lay one egg per year at most. Since 2006, Wisdom and her partner, Akeakamai, have visited the wildlife refuge center on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean during mating season.^[5]

According to US Fish and Wildlife, she has raised at least 31 chicks and now has No. 32 to look after. The baby albatross will spend five to six more months in the care of mom and dad before flying out to sea, where it will spend most of its life.

The average life span of the Laysan albatross is 50 years, but Wisdom is at least 68 years old. She was banded in 1956 when she first came to the breeding site on Midway Atoll. As she was ready to mate, scientists estimated that Wisdom was five to six years old. But she could have been older.

5 Mobility Mucus Marks Mind-Blowing Milestone

There have been many notable discoveries in recent times, but scientists are currently excited over a trail of mucus. That’s because this trail is around 2.1 billion years old and represents the oldest-known evidence of mobility.

Researchers made the discovery in the Franceville basin in Gabon. The area is a black shale province and contains remarkably preserved fossils. A few years back, scientists found there what they believed to be the earliest signs of multicellular life informally referred to as the “Gabonionta.” Now they have uncovered fossilized tracks which show how these primitive marine life-forms moved through the mud.^[6]

The tricky part was examining the fossils without destroying them as the tracks were only a few millimeters wide. Scientists used X-rays to image them and then recreated them in 3-D.

They were surprised to find that the tracks were both horizontal and vertical. The horizontal ones were to be expected as the ancient creatures pushed themselves through sediment. However, vertical tracks suggest that the Gabonionta had a more complex system of mobility than expected.

4 Logan’s Little Library

Some kids set up lemonade stands in their yards, while others might prefer tree houses. Logan Brinson opened a library.

Logan is just five years old, but he loves to read. Unfortunately, his tiny village of Alpha, Illinois, did not have a library, so he decided to start one himself. Last summer, he and his parents met with town officials and proposed to organize a lending library.

That’s how Logan’s Little Library came to be.^[7] Installed in front of the Brinsons’ home, the library is a small, wooden, green-painted house which contains a few dozen books. They are available to readers of all ages as long as they only check out one book at a time.

Logan’s initiative proved to be quite popular with the residents of Alpha. They are now planning to open a second lending library near the gazebo in the town center.

3 Molly And Poss

An animal odd couple won over the hearts of Australians after Molly the beagle adopted a baby possum named Poss.

Molly was feeling distraught after losing her litter of puppies during birth, but a new friend jumped into her life. The little marsupial hopped onto the beagle’s back and made herself at home. Molly was a heartbroken mother without her pups, while Poss was a baby most likely abandoned by her own mom. They found each other at the perfect time and formed a symbiotic relationship.

At the moment, the pair is inseparable, which is particularly tricky as Poss is nocturnal. Whenever she feels like a midday nap, Molly stays close by, waiting patiently for her adopted baby to wake up. The beagle’s owners, Elle and Sara Moyle, announced that they have also adopted Poss and will look after the possum for as long as she wants to stay with Molly.^[8]

2 Lost Memories

Eighty-two-year-old Martha Ina Ingham was recently reunited with something she undoubtedly never expected to see again: her old handbag from high school. Among other items were letters which told the story of two boys who both wanted to take Marty to the prom.

Back in 1954, Marty was a student at Jeffersonville High School in Clark County, Indiana. The school was closed down in 1971 but was only recently marked for demolition.

Construction workers were removing cabinets from one of the science classrooms when they found the handbag. Inside were items you would expect a teenage girl to carry, such as lipstick and ID cards. There was also a letter from a boy asking Marty to the prom in case she hadn’t already said “yes” to another boy named Paul.^[9]

School officials enlisted the power of social media to see if they could track down the former student and return her handbag. Fortunately, Jeffersonville is not a big city. Two days later, they announced triumphantly that Marty had been found. Now all we’re waiting for is an update to let us know whom she took to the prom.

1 A Rose For Valentine’s Day

For the past eight years, Seth Stewart and his friends have spent Valentine’s Day delivering roses to widows, military wives, and single women around Spokane, Washington, so they wouldn’t feel lonely.

It all started when Seth and one of his brothers bought two dozen roses to give to their single friends on Valentine’s Day. The community heard of their small act of kindness, and the next year, they received requests.

The tradition got bigger and bigger over the years. In 2019, Stewart hired a group of drivers to deliver more than 550 roses. Now there is a dedicated “Rose Rush” Facebook page to send requests. All roses are free of charge, and every requested recipient gets one. People can even include a personalized message.^[10]

No matter how big the operation gets, Stewart has his own personal list of women who have had an impact on his life. He delivers flowers to them personally, and his first four customers are always the same: his mom and his sisters.

When we think of sunken cities, most of us think of Atlantis. According to Plato, it was a city of immense wealth, being rich in natural minerals and lush vegetation. Atlanteans were said to have built fantastic temples, displayed wealth, and created magnificent statues to the gods.

Having once been a privileged and favored people, the Atlanteans became greedy and “spiritually ugly,” being unable to appreciate their good fortune. So, Zeus gave Atlantis to Poseidon, and it was swallowed by the sea.^[1]

It’s a cool story. And probably just a myth. The lost city of Atlantis has never been found. However, there are many other sunken cities around the world which are totally real. Here are ten of them.

10 Dunwich

In the 11th century, Dunwich was one of the largest towns in England. However, a succession of storms in the 13th and 14th centuries eroded the coastline, and the town is now largely under the sea. Heavy storms had battered the coast around Dunwich every year for decades. The local inhabitants desperately built defensive ditches to try to hold back the waters and save the town from drowning, but they could not prevent the relentless encroachment of the sea.

Dunwich was evidently a sizeable town. Divers have found the remains of four churches and a toll house, along with numerous houses and even the remains of a ship that had later been wrecked over the town.^[2]

You can see a 3-D model of the lost city in the local museum, but diving is difficult because the water is pitch-black. Visibility is very poor, and photography is almost impossible. However, divers were able to survey the sea floor by touch and have painstakingly recorded their findings to map the area. Archaeological work is still ongoing at the site.

9 Baiae

The partially sunken city of Baiae lies around 16 kilometers (10 mi) west of Naples. Baiae, an ancient Roman town, is said to have been named after Baios, the helmsman who steered Ulysses’s ship. Baiae was said to be a pleasant place to live, having a mild climate, luxurious vegetation, and hot springs. Paradise, basically. The city boasted many luxurious villas and large public buildings and even included the kind of public baths of which the Romans were so fond.^[3]

Baiae was known for its hedonistic lifestyle, with Sextus Propertius describing it as a “den of licentiousness and vice.” It was clearly an opulent place to live, and it was one of the most important Roman cities for many hundreds of years. Baiae was home to Gaius Calpurnius Piso, who plotted to kill Emperor Nero. When Nero learned of the plan, he ordered Piso to commit suicide. Divers have discovered Piso’s villa, along with another, believed to have belonged to the emperor.

Because so many of its inhabitants were very wealthy, many more treasures may still be waiting to be found there. It is thought that volcanic activity in the area caused part of the city to sink into the Gulf of Naples, lost for hundreds of years.

Archaeological surveys of the site have been ongoing since 1941. The water in the area is clear, enabling divers to thoroughly explore and record the site. Parts of the submerged area are remarkably well-preserved, including floors with complicated mosaics, undamaged by 1700 years beneath the water. Divers have discovered roads, walls, and even statues of Ulysses and Baios, still upright, as if they had been carefully placed there yesterday.

8 Heracleion

The Egyptian city of Heracleion sank beneath the sea over a millennium ago. The city, supposedly visited by Helen of Troy and her lover, Paris, was thought to have been merely mythical until it was rediscovered in 1999 by archaeologist Franck Goddio.

The site, which is still being excavated, is rich with treasures, including huge statues up to 5 meters (16 ft) tall. The city began to sink into the sea sometime in the third century, possibly because of the excessive weight of the fabulous buildings. It was completely gone by the eighth century.

Hundreds of statues and slabs of stone inscribed in Greek and ancient Egyptian have been discovered and brought to the surface, along with gold coins and dozens of sarcophagi, which may have once contained mummified animals as offerings to the gods.

Archaeologists have also found the remains of hundreds of shipwrecks, suggesting that Heracleion was an important trading port. At the center of the city was a huge temple dedicated to Amun-Gereb, the supreme Egyptian god of the time.

When it was built, the city would have sat at the mouth of the Nile Delta, though it is now submerged under 46 meters (150 ft) of water in the Bay of Aboukir.^[4]

7 Ravenser Odd

Ravenser Odd was a medieval pirate town in Yorkshire, England. It was the first available landing ground for ships coming from Scandinavia, so the inhabitants, being little more than thieves, vagabonds, and, yes, pirates, would row out to incoming ships and “persuade” them to land there.^[5]

Citizens of Ravenser Odd were exempt from paying taxes, and the town was effectively autonomous, with its own mayor, court, prisons, and even gallows. It was also given the right to tax any ships which it had “persuaded” to come to port, which accounts for the enthusiasm of the locals.

However, the sea eventually began to overwhelm the town, and each high tide eroded it further. Walls began to collapse into the mud, and the churchyard gave up its bodies to the sea. The population began to flee, and, according to their nature, the inhabitants looted the churches as they went.

The Great Drowning came in January 1362, and a ferocious storm and unusually high tides submerged Ravenser Odd for good.

6 Kekova

A town situated on the Turkish island of Kekova was submerged by an earthquake in the second century AD. Historical records are somewhat sketchy, but it appears that the island was a prominent place during the Byzantine era. It is possible to see the ruins beneath the clear, blue waters of the Mediterranean, and locals earn extra money by taking tourists on boat trips to view them.^[6]

The area has been protected since 1990, though visitors are welcome. You will be able to see half-sunken ruins emerging from the water and buildings complete with stone staircases which descend into the sea, which is impressive. However, the site is protected, and snorkeling is, unfortunately, not permitted.

5 Atlit Yam

Atlit Yam lies 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) off the coast of Israel, in the Mediterranean Sea. It is so completely preserved that human skeletons lie undisturbed in their graves, and its stone circle remains standing.

Atlit Yam is one of the earliest sunken cities known to man. There are large houses with stone floors, fireplaces, and even wells (though they are somewhat redundant now). The site was buried for around 9,000 years until quarrying in the area exposed some of the remains. In 1984, while searching for shipwrecks, Ehud Galili, a marine archaeologist, recognized what they were and began work to protect and preserve the site.

Being so old, exposure to air would put some areas of the site in danger of decay, so artifacts are not removed from the seabed unless they are in danger of being destroyed by the underwater conditions. Archaeologists wait for currents to shift the sands so that they can chart what lies beneath them.

The site includes a monolithic stone circle, of the sort you might find at Stonehenge, though smaller (and wetter), and an analysis of human remains found at the site showed evidence of tuberculosis, indicating that the disease is 3,000 years older than was previously thought.^[7]

4 Shicheng

Shicheng (or Lion City) in China was purposely flooded in 1959 in the creation of the Xin’an Dam. At that time, 300,000 people were relocated from the area to make way for the construction, leaving the city to its fate. The city itself was approximately 600 years old and featured stunning classical Chinese architecture.

Shicheng lay undisturbed until 2001, when the Chinese government undertook a survey to see what remained of it, and interest in the site began to grow. Divers found well-preserved statues of not only lions but also phoenixes, dragons, and other animals, as well as ancient buildings dating to the 16th century.

Today, there are regular opportunities for divers to explore the ruins, which lie up to 40 meters (131 ft) under the surface.^[8] The town is amazingly well-preserved, the cold waters preventing even the wooden staircases of houses from rotting.

3 Neapolis

In 2017, archaeologists discovered the lost city of Neapolis, off Tunisia, which had been drowned by a tsunami 1,700 years earlier. The remains still show the streets, monuments, and hundreds of containers which were used to produce garum—a kind of fish sauce which was popular at the time (ketchup not being invented yet).

Neapolis was an important industrial area in the Roman era and was thought to be the major center for the production of fish sauce in the Roman world. The ruins cover a 50-acre area, which, it is believed, was submerged after a tsunami in July AD 365. It was the same tsunami that destroyed Alexandria and was caused by an earthquake of at least magnitude 8.0.^[9]

To date, apart from the fish barrels, archaeologists have discovered little in the way of treasures. However, archaeological work is ongoing at the site, so you never know; they may discover more culinary-related items any day. Who’s hoping for chips?

2 Cambay

In December 2000, scientists claimed to have discovered a huge lost city in the Gulf of Cambay (aka the Gulf of Khambhat), off the west coast of India. Lying 37 meters (120 ft) beneath the water, the site stretches 8 kilometers (5 mi) long and 3.2 kilometers (2 mi) wide and is believed to be over 9,000 years old.

The site was found by chance while scientists were conducting a survey about pollution. Among the artifacts reported to have been discovered at the time were sections of wall, sculptures, and human remains.^[10]

Since then, both the age of the artifacts and whether the stone ones are truly man-made have been disputed. If they are what they’re claimed to be, they’d be a significant find, 4,000 years older than the Indus Valley Civilization. It has been speculated that the possible city was submerged by rising waters during the last ice age. If that is the case, one wonders how many other ancient cities are lying at the bottom of the sea.

1 Olous

Olous lies in shallow water under a clear, blue sea off the northern coast of Crete. Olous became an important port town during the first millennium BC and was so wealthy that it had its own currency.

Olous was said to the city of fountains. Afraid that pirates would steal their treasures, the inhabitants are said to have dug 100 fountains in the surrounding mountains. The wells beneath 99 of them contained only water, but the last one contained the combined riches of the old town. It has never been discovered.

No one is sure of the exact cause of the destruction of Olous. The city may have been destroyed as a result of a volcanic eruption, or it may have sunk gradually through natural erosion.^[11]

If you wish to visit Olous, it is possible to see the sunken city via snorkel. However, as the ruins are part of an active archaeological excavation, nothing can be removed from the site—unless, of course, you find that 100th fountain, in which case, who would ever know?

Ward Hazell is a writer who travels, and an occasional travel writer.

It’s a question that has grabbed the attention of humanity since long before history has been recorded. What life exists outside of this little ball that we call Earth? Whether we’re talking about the gods of Olympus or the Klingons of Star Trek, it is a theme that has appeared consistently throughout all of human history.

As science expands our knowledge of the universe every year, we half expect the news that extraterrestrial life has been found. But what if we’ve been looking in all the wrong places?

Science predicts many examples of counterintuitive forms of life. While impossible on Earth, they could very well exist elsewhere in the universe. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 scientifically possible extraterrestrial life-forms.

10 Silicon-Based Life

Silicon is a molecule whose structure and chemical properties are remarkably similar to the properties of carbon—the element on which most life on Earth is based. An important part of life as we know it is the ability of carbon to form complex chains of atoms and molecules sufficiently large to contain biological programming such as DNA.

Silicon, also commonly used in computer chips, is the closest that humanity has ever come to designing their own intelligent system. It would have the potential to organically form its own version of DNA under the right circumstances.

Additionally, there are examples on Earth of organisms using silicon in biological structures, specifically in a form of algae known as diatoms. They are responsible for the usage of over six billion metric tons of silicon each year in Earth’s oceans as well as the production of almost 20 percent of the planet’s oxygen.^[1]

As a result, it is likely that silicon might exist as a stage of early life on other planets, converting their atmospheres into oxygen and getting them ready for more advanced life later on.

9 Arsenic-Based Life

Although it seems counterintuitive that one of the most iconic poisons on Earth has a basis in forming life, science suggests that it is entirely possible for arsenic to be incorporated into complex biomolecules.

The argument for arsenic in life-forms stems from its chemical similarity to phosphorus, a staple part of DNA in Earth life. Some studies suggest that arsenic may have once been a part of the DNA in early life on Earth, taking the place in DNA that phosphorus does now.

In an early stage of life before microbial activity was able to leech phosphorus from rocks in the ocean, arsenic would have been far more available to organisms living near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean.^[2]

Although evidence suggests that phosphorus is a more efficient chemical than arsenic in advanced life, the poisonous element would likely be good enough for early, simple forms of life. Creatures made of this substance may lurk in the depths of alien oceans.

8 Ammonia-Based Life

Water is an essential part of all Earth life. Our bodies use the liquid as a solvent, which is necessary for almost all chemical reactions that create energy and sustain functions. This is seen in humans and all the way down to the smallest microbes.

But what if there was an alternative to water? Recent science suggests that there is.

For life to exist in a substance other than water, it would be necessary for it to either have a large temperature range at which it is liquid or exist on a planet with little, if any, temperature change over the course of its year. Water exists in a liquid form between 0 degrees Celsius (32 °F) and 100 degrees Celsius (212 °F), a range of 100 degrees Celsius (180 °F).

Ammonia is liquid between -77.7 degrees Celsius (-107.86 °F) and -33.3 degrees Celsius (-27.94 °F), a relatively large range of 44.4 degrees Celsius (79.92 °F). While one might think that such temperatures would be too cold to sustain life, it is likely that the reactions and processes necessary for life could still exist, albeit at a slower speed.^[3]

As such, organisms using ammonia rather than water as a chemical solvent would likely live longer but metabolize and evolve more slowly than water-based life.

7 Methane-Based Life

There are some environments in which methane would be far more prevalent than water. Saturn’s moon Titan is a prominent example.

According to a computer model, life which relies on methane would be able to exist in extremely cold areas as well as regions entirely without oxygen. The model revealed that a cell wall could be constructed that would work in liquid methane at -180 degrees Celsius (-292 °F).

Along with the fact that cell membranes could be created with nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen molecules, which are known to exist in Titan’s oceans, this function means that simple organisms could exist in the frozen depths of methane oceans.^[4]

As with ammonia-based organisms, life in methane oceans would inherently be paced much slower than life on Earth. Slow evolution and metabolism would occur due to the frigid temperatures necessary to maintain the ocean of liquids.

6 Carbon-Based Life

Carbon-based life-forms are the only type which we, being carbon-based ourselves, know anything about. Thus, we’re sure that hundreds of planets exist within the potentially habitable zones of their stars. These planets would be able to support life as we know it with oxygen, liquid water, and even the chemicals and reactions necessary to jump-start life.

Additionally, carbon-based life is the only type that we are sure exists, as evidenced by our own planet.

This isn’t to say that carbon-based life on other planets would look at all like Earth’s. Through evolution, it is possible for extraterrestrial carbon-based life to take on a dramatically different form by adapting to fit its environment.

Just look at the massive number of life-forms that exist on Earth. They live everywhere from frigid oceans to the mouths of active volcanoes and fault lines. The existence of organisms on Earth in such extreme environments is proof that it is entirely possible for this kind of life to exist on a wide variety of other planets, including some that we would consider uninhabitable for humans.^[5]

5 Hybrid Life

If creatures could hypothetically evolve using an entirely different basis for life than that on Earth, why couldn’t they combine multiple methods? For example, life could be based primarily in silicon, contain elements of carbon or arsenic, and use ammonia as a solvent.

As previously mentioned, some life-forms on Earth incorporate silicon structures into their cells. So why not take it a step further? If an organism evolved on a planet with a relative abundance of multiple elements that could be used in the processes of life, why not take those two and make them into a composite whole?

Silicon and carbon can bond with each other as well as silicon and oxygen, carbon and oxygen, and silicon and fluoride. So it is possible for these molecules to react and form complex chains that would store and transmit information in a manner similar to DNA.

This could also work if a planet had a biosphere with a subset of creatures which used an element such as carbon as their base and another subset which used a different element such as silicon. Rather than a creature being based in two different elements, the biosphere as a whole could contain two different elemental bases for life.^[6]

4 Plasma-Based Life

This one truly falls into the realm of science fiction.

By modeling conditions that are possible in space, a 2007 study found that plasma and dust can function in a way that may qualify as life. They may even form microscopic double helix strands of solid particles through the polarization of plasma and dust. Sound familiar?

Even more fascinating, the study found that these strands can undergo changes such as those associated with organic molecules, specifically DNA. They can divide, copy, and even evolve as less stable strands break apart and more stable ones endure.^[7]

These life-forms could exist as chilling entities formed of nonorganic materials in the void between stars inside massive dust clouds or in plasma or dust rings surrounding stars. Through continued evolution, it is entirely possible for such clouds to one day achieve sentience.

3 Celestial Life

Although science does not currently suggest that stars or galaxies themselves could form life, it does indicate that life with organic compounds can form outside of a home planet with the help of nearby stars and star structures.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, organic compounds have been detected in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. Complex organic molecules such as methanol, dimethyl ether, and methyl formate, all of which are essential in organic life, were detected in two nebulae in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This suggests that given time and the right circumstances, these compounds could eventually form into self-replicating molecules that would become the basis of life in such nebulae. Later, they could create more complex biological structures. As they would evolve without the basic function of gravity such as on Earth, we have no idea what these creatures might look like.^[8]

2 Panspermia

A popular theory is that life propagates through the universe through planetary ejection caused by large impacts on previously populated planets. This theory states that life can be distributed by dust, debris, asteroids, and comets carrying microorganisms from other planets.

For panspermia to be plausible, the organisms must be able to survive intense forces and extremely hot and cold temperatures for extended durations. This is due to the inherent forces involved in an asteroid impact, the heat from friction with a planet’s atmosphere, and the extended time when the organism is in transit through space—potentially thousands or millions of years.^[9]

Organisms like that exist on Earth already. These extremophiles can resist extreme cold and heat as well as UV rays and intense forces. Although they are among the most basic known forms of life, they have an unparalleled ability to survive conditions that would kill most other organisms.

Thus, it is entirely plausible that life could have spread throughout the universe via asteroid impacts and the extremophiles that were carried on these alien asteroids.

Even if life was based on the extremophiles from another planet, the simplistic nature of these organisms makes it unlikely that they would evolve into anything that looked like the more complex creatures on the original planet. This is due to the different traits necessary to survive on the two planets.

1 Not At All

Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that we are the only planet in the universe that has life. Due to the vastness of space and the limit that light speed imposes on intergalactic travel, it may be impossible for us to ever discover other life or even determine if it exists at all. In the observable universe, we have not found any concrete evidence that life does or has ever existed on other planets.

With that being said, the universe is only about 13.8 billion years old. While this may seem like a long time, we have no way of knowing how old the universe will become. Perhaps we are the first planet to evolve life, with many others to follow in the future.

We estimate that the universe’s heat death (a state in which there is no longer any free thermal energy) will occur somewhere in between 1 and 100 trillion years. In the worst-case scenario, we are only 1.38 percent of the way through the universe’s expected life span. At best, we are about 0.01 percent of the way there. That is a lot of time for life to happen.^[10]

Still, we can’t help but wonder if our signals will ever be received by someone or something out there or if they will just shoot forever through the cold, dark void of space.

Inside the world of extinct animals is a special club—species with dangerous looks. To get a meal or avoid becoming one, both predator and prey refined physical traits to interesting effect.

From fangs in whales to herbivores with a taste for meat and carnivores unlike anything seen today, ancient animals were survival specialists. Recent fossils also revealed unknown predators that terrified the prehistoric landscape and solved the mystery of a unique, if not gruesome, shark.

10 Whales That Ate Whales

Egypt’s Wadi Al-Hitan (“Valley of the Whales”) is littered with the bones of extinct whales. In 2010, researchers stumbled upon a skeleton sticking through the sand. It was identified as Basilosaurus isis. This customer grew 15–18 meters (50–60 ft) long and lived 34 million to 38 million years ago.

Although it was a whale, B. isis did not snack on krill or plankton like its modern relatives. The creature was a ferocious predator that preyed on other whales. This specimen, in particular, provided the first clear evidence.

Inside the stomach curled the remains of a calf. The latter belonged to a smaller whale called Dorudon atrox, a species that matured at 5 meters (16 ft) long. Crush marks on the calf’s skull matched the adult whale’s teeth, proving it was a kill and not a dead body the larger animal had scavenged.^[1]

Once again, the dental side of this ancient whale was far removed from any modern species. B. isis had fangs like a wolf and sharp teeth in the back of its mouth.

9 Largest Early Jurassic Predator

Near the Italian village of Saltrio, a quarry produced a special dinosaur in 1996. Years of dynamite blasts inside the quarry did the fossil no favors. In the end, 130 pieces were recovered. Saltriovenator zanellai took nearly 20 years to put together and identify as a new species.

Weighing about a ton, it was the Early Jurassic’s largest-known predator. Although not the biggest carnivorous dinosaur that ever lived, Saltriovenator was nevertheless formidable. It prowled on two legs and grew serrated teeth and deadly claws.

The time it lived—around 198 million years ago—was significant because this predated the existence of large meat eaters by a cool 25 million years. The beast, which grew to 7.6 meters (25 ft) long, died as a juvenile.

When it was 24 years old, the hunter somehow ended up on the seabed. The scars left by scavengers also made the fossil unique. Never before had any dinosaur remains been found that had been nibbled on by at least three distinct marine creatures—ancient sharks, urchins, and sea worms.^[2]

8 Meat-Eating Herbivores

Pachycephalosaurus often appears in children’s dinosaur books. Illustrations show the dome-headed dinosaurs knocking their heads together in battle or grazing on plants. These animals were classified as vegetarians even though only partial jaws were found. Strangely, they were always the back part of the jaw, but they had classic herbivore teeth. Pachycephalosaurus undoubtedly enjoyed mashing fruit and rough plants.

In 2018 in Albuquerque, researchers gathered in confusion around the most complete skull ever found. For the first time, the juvenile contained a complete front jaw. It sported very different teeth. Serrated and sharp, the pointy blades reminded experts of carnivore teeth, especially those of T. rex. Notably, Pachycephalosaurus lived during the same time (66 million to 68 million years ago).

Further research might change their classification to opportunistic hunter and omnivore, but the discovery could also solve an enduring mystery. Very often, rocks from this period produce the teeth of small carnivores nobody can find. Pachycephalosaurus might very well be the source.^[3]

7 The Oldest Tyrannosaur

In 2012, an expedition uncovered bone fragments in New Mexico. Found in the Menefee Formation, the skeleton was badly weathered. For this reason, restoration dragged on for years. Once completed, the creature turned out to be an 80-million-year-old type of tyrannosaur.

It was a remarkable find. The new dinosaur predated the other 25 species of tyrannosaurs by millions of years. Dynamoterror dynastes was unusually large for such an early version of the lineage. It eventually became clear that the 9-meter-long (30 ft) carnivore belonged to the same subgroup that included large relatives such as T. rex, which lived around 15 million years later.

Dynamoterror is special for another reason. North America’s dinosaur evolution experienced a strange split around this time. A sea divided the continent, causing the same types of dinosaur to develop differently in the north and south. The new tyrannosaur’s differences from those of similar age could reveal more about these unusual evolutionary pockets.^[4]

6 Madagascar’s Super Crocodile

When a species is missing its early history, paleontologists call it a “ghost lineage.” The notosuchians are one such group. In 2017, a discovery not only suggested that they originated from southern Gondwana (the original supercontinent) but also presented a new notosuchian member.

Found in Madagascar, Razanandrongobe sakalavae resembled a crocodile. The head alone was 1 meter (3.3 ft) long. It had an unfriendly grin. Each tooth measured 15 centimeters (6 in) in length. In fact, they rather resembled those of T. rex, making the croc thing an apex predator of its time.

Researchers puzzled the species together using the new find and pieces rediscovered in museums. The combined data showed that R. sakalavae was perhaps the biggest notosuchian and definitely the oldest. It chased dinosaurs for dinner around 163 million years ago, a date that beat the previous oldest notosuchian by a mind-bending 42 million years.^[5]

5 Destroyer Of Shins

When a dinosaur died 76 million years ago, it was destined to be named after a monster in the Ghostbusters movie (1984). The fictional Zuul was a hellhound with a face like a gargoyle.

In 2014, the fossil reemerged in Montana. It was a previously unknown ankylosaurid—a dinosaur resembling an armored tank with a distinctive tail used like a club. The fossil was so well-preserved that its looks garnered the movie-inspired name Zuul crurivastator.

When it perished, Zuul was buried in river sand. This preserved even the soft tissue covering the armor and flank damage that suggested it argued with its own kind—which, in itself, was nothing to laugh at.

Although they were herbivores, this species came equipped with a tail that could smash the legs of T. rex. Tipped with a bony ball, the tail was adorned with spikes and measured 2 meters (7 ft) long. While its face was responsible for the “Zuul” part, the tail earned the rest of the creature’s name—crurivastator means “destroyer of shins.”^[6]

4 Dinosaurs With Mohawks

Among the most recognizable of dinosaurs, sauropods were giant herbivores with whiplike tails and long necks. Not all sauropods were big enough to use size as a defense.

In 2013, a smaller species was located in Argentina. The fossil belonged to a brand-new species called Bajadasaurus pronuspinax. At merely 9–10 meters (30–33 ft) long, it was tiny in comparison to other sauropods.

When paleontologists found a bony spine, analysis suggested that it was one of several that ran the length of the dinosaur’s neck and back, almost like a Mohawk. They were likely thin, sharp, and very long. In addition, the spikes probably had a layer of keratin that gave them a hornlike appearance.^[7]

Since the bizarre feature vanished with the species 140 million years ago, confirming its purpose would be a difficult task. A plausible theory is that the sauropods developed Mohawks to look bigger and more dangerous than they really were.

3 The Meat Hook Hunter

A pretty cool nightmare once haunted South America. The size of a truck, it ate meat and hunted with talons that resembled 40-centimeter (16 in) meat hooks. Its discovery in 2006 was a festive moment for scientists. Its group, Megaraptoridae, is exceptionally mysterious.

This specimen was also one of the largest of its kind and the last. Unfortunately, it lived in the Late Cretaceous when dinosaurs went extinct. Unearthed in Argentina, Tratayenia rosalesi managed to fill in some details about its species.^[8]

The carnivore measured 9 meters (30 ft) long and had bones with air pockets. This feature exists in a living relative—modern birds. When T. rosalesi lived 95 million to 85 million years ago, it might have been more closely related to T. rex. This could explain the serrated, daggerlike teeth and why T. rosalesi was among the biggest and most lethal hunters of its time.

2 T. rex Made Deadly Turns

When most people think about Tyrannosaurus rex hunting, a large and stomping predator comes to mind. One might not credit this barreling hulk with turns that are precision moves. After all, these creatures weighed around 400 kilograms (880 lb). However, T. rex could intercept swerving prey by turning like a figure skater.

New research in 2018 found that their hip bones and leg muscles were specially adapted to make them the ballerinas from hell. Also, the kids were even deadlier. A juvenile T. rex could twirl faster than its elders, undoubtedly a perk that helped them survive to adulthood.

These dinosaurs lived during the Cretaceous (145 million to 65 million years ago). To see if pivoting was a thing among predators of the time, researchers used cutting-edge techniques to study other species that frightened everything else during the Cretaceous. When all the monsters were made to digitally turn on a single foot, T. rex spun up to three times faster than the rest.^[9]

1 The Scissor Shark

Around 330 million years ago (long before the dinosaurs), there was a shark unlike any other. Edestus was first discovered in the 19th century when fossils showed up in England and the United States.

Ever since, experts have argued about its eating habits—more specifically, why the so-called “scissor shark” had such weird teeth. The teeth of modern sharks grow along upper and lower crescents. Edestus‘s two rows of snappers resembled pinking shears. The feature has never been seen in any species before or since.^[10]

As there was nothing for scientists to go on, debates and theories proliferated until a recent CT scan. The scan inspired a three-dimensional replica of the head which revealed the shark’s horrific chomp. Incredibly, the jaw appeared to work on a double-jointed system that sliced prey apart. As the shark bit, the sawlike teeth of the upper and lower jaws snapped together before the bottom slid backward to amputate a piece.

Keeping up with the news is hard. So hard, in fact, that we’ve decided to save you the hassle by rounding up the most significant, unusual, or just plain old mind-blowing stories each week.

This week, the phrase “spoke too soon” is the one that probably applies best to the news. You may recall last week’s column opened with us saying how it had been a blissfully dull week, with no major attacks. No sooner had we filed the dang thing than a mass killing in Kashmir threatened to send nuclear-armed India and Pakistan spiraling into war. More on this brewing crisis below, alongside all the other important stuff that happened this week.

10 A Terrorist Attack Pushed India-Pakistan Tensions To Boiling Point

A mountainous region in the Himalayas, Kashmir is a beautiful slice of Asia that also happens to be one of the biggest potential triggers for a nuclear war. Partially administered by both India and Pakistan, and wholly claimed by both, it’s a troubled place where unrest is common, and violence is never far from the surface.

Last Thursday, after this column had been written, that violence came erupting out. A suicide bomber attacked a convoy of India’s security forces, detonating a car bomb that killed 40. The attack was claimed by Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. It was the deadliest attack in Kashmir in decades.

Bad as this was, what comes next could be even worse. India believes Jaish-e-Mohammed is linked to Pakistan’s intelligence services. There’s now a real chance that these two nuclear-armed states could go to war.^[1]

So far, India has only implemented economic sanctions against Pakistan. Still, military options are said to be on the table, and even a limited military strike against Jaish-e-Mohammed could trigger countermeasures and spark a conflagration.

9 16 US States Sued To Stop Trump’s Border Wall

Late last week, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to redirect federal funds and build his border wall. This week, the fallout from that announcement blanketed the news, in the form of 16 US states suing the White House.^[2]

Trump’s national emergency declaration was always going to be controversial. Controversial on the left because Democrats see the wall as a monument to racism. Controversial on the right because building the wall will eat up a ton of federal funds and involve eminent domain land purchases, all of which smacks of the sort of big government project many Republicans did not sign on for.

Now, the battle moves to the US courts, courtesy of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Michigan. If the decision goes to the Supreme Court, it could set a precedent for the use of executive power for decades to come.

8 Brexit Began To Rip Apart The UK’s Main Political Parties

Ah, Brexit. The gift that keeps on giving like a recurring bout of malaria. With barely a month to go until the UK exits the European Union and no Brexit deal in sight, the tensions in Westminster are starting to reach breaking point.

On Monday, they finally made a crack in the opposition Labour Party. Seven MPs, including former leadership contender Chuka Umunna, split from the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of Brexit and a recent anti-Semitism scandal. They aligned themselves to something called the Independent Group, a brand-new, moderate political entity that didn’t exist last week. One day later, an eighth Labour MP joined them. Shortly after that, three MPs defected from the ruling Conservative Party, saying Theresa May was in thrall to Brexit extremists.

The Independent Group is now the joint fourth-largest force in the UK Parliament, behind the Conservatives, Labour, and the Scottish National Party and equal with the Liberal Democrats.^[3]

In a 650-seat House, 11 doesn’t add up to very much, but it’s what this could mean for the future that’s important. Already, there’s talk of yet more Conservatives defecting. Should it look like Britain is really about to go over the Brexit cliff-edge, the Independent Group might become much bigger.

7 A Wave Of Anti-Semitism Swept France

France is home to the single largest Jewish community outside of Israel and the US. Sadly, there are some who don’t see this as something to be proud of, and their numbers are apparently growing. This week, a wave of anti-Semitic incidents across the country prompted tens of thousands to take to the streets in protest.^[4]

The attacks were the standard litany of hate that unfortunately goes with this territory. In Alsace, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized with swastikas. The German word for “Jew” was spray-painted on a bakery. A synagogue was shot at with an air rifle. More swastikas were painted on pictures of a Holocaust survivor in Paris. A tree planted to commemorate a Jewish man tortured to death was chopped down.

Perhaps most disturbingly, this anti-Semitism seems to have found a home in the yellow vest protest movement. On the weekend, a gang of yellow vests surrounded a prominent Jewish philosopher and peppered him with verbal abuse.

6 A Prominent Actor Was Charged With Faking His Homophobic Attack

So, this was a scandal few of us saw coming. Way back on January 29, Empire star Jussie Smollett was hospitalized, saying he’d been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack that had included a noose being tied around his neck. It was the sort of awful story that’s sadly all too common, only Smollett’s version came with a twist.

This Thursday, Smollett was formally arrested by the Chicago police. The reason? It’s now believed that he orchestrated his own attack for reasons that remain totally unclear.^[5]

It’s said that Smollett knew his two attackers and may have paid them to assault him. On top of that, he’s been charged with sending a threatening letter to the studio where Empire is filmed. Smollett vehemently denies all charges.

5 North Carolina’s 9th District Voter Fraud Case Got Even Bigger

Remember the 2018 midterms? After all the dust settled, the House races were left with a puzzling postscript. North Carolina’s 9th district race remained uncertified, despite the Republican candidate, Mark Harris, winning by 905 votes.

This was because credible allegations of voter fraud began to swirl not long after. Harris, it was alleged, had used a firm to go around various towns and collect absentee ballots by hand. This is already illegal under NC law, but then came accusations that Harris’s operatives had gone further by potentially “misplacing” or agreeing to pick up and then not picking up absentee votes for Democrat Dan McCready. There’s even been talk that Harris’s people may have filled in absentee voter ballots themselves.

On Monday, the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections laid out the state’s evidence that voter fraud did take place. While far from conclusive, it certainly looks plausible. It was enough that the five members of the election board unanimously ordered a new election on Thursday afternoon.^[6]

4 A Bangladesh Fire Killed Around 80 People

Chawkbazar is a centuries-old district in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, that houses just about everything from residential homes, to shops, to businesses storing propane in super-unsafe conditions. That last item is exactly why you’re reading about it right now. Late Wednesday night, a fire broke out in Chawkbazar. In no time at all, it had killed somewhere in the region of 80 people.^[7]

Buildings in Chawkbazar are built insanely close, with mere inches separating them. It’s this that allowed the fire to spread with such speed. After a minibus caught fire outside a chemical shop, it caused an explosion that set half the district ablaze. By Thursday morning, 78 had been confirmed killed, with many more still missing.

Dhaka is no stranger to devastating fires. A 2010 fire that killed over 100 people was similarly blamed on the storage of dangerous chemicals in residential areas. It’s just a shame that no lessons were learned.

3 Bernie Sanders Unveiled His 2020 Presidential Bid

In the febrile atmosphere of 2016, it briefly looked like both major parties were going to have a populist outsider running as their candidate: Donald Trump for the Republicans and Bernie Sanders for the Democrats.

Clearly, this didn’t happen. Hillary locked down Southern Democrats’ votes and, with a little help from the anti-Bernie DNC, first sealed the nomination and then went down in flames in the election. Ever since, many Democrats have wondered, “Could he have done it? Could Bernie have beaten Trump?”

Well, they may soon have an answer. On Tuesday, the Democratic Socialist from Vermont announced he was running for the Democratic nomination again. Less than 24 hours later, he’d already raised over $5.9 million in donations.^[8]

Sanders is a known quantity with a fervent fan base and amazing fundraising prowess. Should he get the nomination, he could also do well in the Midwest states Trump won in 2016. However, Bernie’s also getting challenged from the left this time, something he definitely didn’t have to worry about in 2016.

2 The Supreme Court Slapped Down Civil Forfeiture

Civil asset forfeiture has long been one of the craziest things that a supposedly pro-individual rights country like the US allows to happen. In short, state and local governments can seize your stuff if they think you’ve committed a crime. In some cases, this has meant states grabbing everything they can get their hands on, even when the crime in question has been on the petty side, or even if the suspect has never been proven guilty.

The basic unfairness of all this still hasn’t gone away, but it’s gotten a little more palatable. This week, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that civil asset forfeiture was covered by the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause, which prevents governments or corporations issuing disproportionate fines.^[9] From now on, anytime the state seizes your stuff, they will have to go to court to explain why they did so and why it was fair.

Some of the abuses of civil asset forfeiture have been jaw-dropping. The plaintiff in this case had been fined $1,200 for selling $225 of heroin but also had his $42,000 Land Rover seized. The Rover had been bought using his dad’s life insurance policy, not drug money.

1 A Shocking Attack Derailed Nigeria’s Elections

Last Friday, Nigeria’s government made a surprise announcement. They were delaying the country’s elections by one week due to violence. When asked why, they pointed to an attack on a Muslim minority community in Kaduna state earlier in the week.

At first, the attack was reported as having killed scores. By last Friday, the number had climbed to 66. On Tuesday, we got a final body count that was shocking. Over 130 people had been killed in the assault, making it equal in death toll to the horrific 2015 Paris attacks. According to the state governor, the attack had been intended to “wipe out certain communities.”^[10]

Last October, violence in the region led to the deaths of 55 people, mainly from the local Christian communities. This latest attack, which hit two villages at once, was apparently revenge-driven.

If that’s the case, it’s certainly upped the ante. With 130 dead, it seems the region of Kaduna could now be trapped in a cycle of bitter ethnic violence.

With another week in the history books, it’s time to sit back and review some of the stories that made the news over the last few days. Click here if you want to learn all about the major headlines. Otherwise, read on for unexpected and outlandish stories.

This week’s list is a collection of international affairs. There is the Canadian iceberg heist, the German Smurf party, and the French lightsaber duel. We find glow-in-the-dark spider fossils in Korea and striped horses in England. The Japanese get naked to uphold a 500-year-old tradition while an Australian woman dresses up as a gorilla to catch a flasher.

10 Smurf-tastic

Thousands assembled in the German village of Lauchringen to set the new world record for the largest gathering of Smurfs.

The event was organized by a group called Da Traditionsverein. According to the group’s Facebook page, the occasion drew 2,762 people who donned pointy hats, white pants, and blue paint to resemble the characters from the beloved comic book.

The Record Institute for Germany was there to officially confirm the number of the crowd, although it is still waiting for approval from Guinness World Records. To be eligible for the record, each participant had to have their skin either painted blue or covered by clothing. The white cap was also mandatory, although red was allowed for people dressed up as Papa Smurf.

This was actually the second time that organizers attempted to break the record. They first tried it in 2016 but managed to assemble only 2,149 people. This time, their efforts overshadowed the previous record of 2,510 Smurfs set in 2009 at Swansea University in Wales.^[1]

9 Spider Glow

Scientists found fossils of spiders whose eyes still glowed in the dark even though they died 110 million years ago.

Researchers from the Korea Polar Research Institute and the University of Kansas were exploring a Mesozoic shale deposit in South Korea called the Jinju Formation. They uncovered 10 spider fossils.

This was noteworthy enough on its own. These kinds of finds are exceedingly rare because soft, squishy spiders don’t make very good fossils and are typically found only in amber. However, two of them were even more exciting because their eyes still shone in the dark even after all this time.

Most likely, the source of the glow was the tapetum. This is a reflective layer of tissue in the eye that many animals have. It helps with their night vision but also causes the eyes to shine in the dark. Researchers believe that this could be the first preservation of a spider’s tapetum in the entire fossil record.^[2]

Scientists are also curious about the circumstances that led to the arachnids being preserved in shale. Other creatures such as fish and crustaceans were also present in the rocks, so they could have all fallen victim to a disastrous event like an algal bloom.

8 A Cool Heist

One of the most bizarre heists in recent memory occurred in Newfoundland, Canada, as thieves made off with 30,000 liters (7,925 gal) of iceberg water from a vodka distillery.

The criminals targeted a warehouse in the historic community of Port Union. The victim was Iceberg Vodka. As its name suggests, the company uses real iceberg water in the manufacturing of its product.

CEO David Meyers says the stolen liquid could have been used to make 150,000 bottles of vodka. However, he does not expect the company to suffer too much after its loss. The water was insured, and it was only valued at C$9,000 to C$12,000. That being said, the biggest problem is that the giant ice blocks can only be harvested once a year when the icebergs move closer to the Newfoundland coast.^[3]

Meyers does not believe that the crime was one of simple opportunity. The thieves went through “a bit of work” to bypass the locked gate and door and brought along some kind of tanker to load and transport tens of thousands of liters of iceberg water. The original tank which contained the liquid had been drained and left behind.

7 Wickedness In Creswell Crags

There was a time when people were really, really afraid of something in Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, England. That’s the conclusion of heritage experts after they found inside what could be Britain’s largest assemblage of apotropaic signs—which are intended to ward off evil.

The markings include hundreds of symbols, letters, and patterns which were likely carved from the 16th century onward when fear of witchcraft became widespread.

It is truly remarkable how long it took for people to realize the markings were there. This is especially surprising given that ice age art was found inside the cave in 2003 and attracted a lot of attention.

However, it wasn’t until last year that two keen-eyed cavers spotted a couple of symbols and alerted members of the Creswell Heritage Trust as to their meaning. The director of the trust embarrassingly confessed that they had been telling people the markings were Victorian graffiti.

This prompted a closer inspection of the cave. Researchers were shocked to discover that the walls were covered in symbols. So far, they have found a thousand and counting.^[4] Most of them are generic, such as PM for Pace Maria or a double V meaning Virgin of Virgins. It might be hard to tell exactly what it was about Creswell Crags that terrified people so much.

6 The Luckiest Men In Japan

Thousands of Japanese men in Okayama stripped down to their loincloths and crowded together to search for two sticks believed to bring them good luck in the year to come.

The tradition is called Saidaiji Eyo, and it dates back over 500 years to the Muromachi period. Last Saturday, an estimated 10,000 men gathered at the Kinryozan Saidaiji Buddhist temple in Okayama to participate.

First, they took off their clothes and put on white loincloths. Then they all bathed in the cold waters of the Yoshii River as part of a purification ritual.

At around 10:00 PM came the main event. The mass of naked men watched as the temple’s chief priest stood on a balcony. The lights were turned off, and he threw two sticks into the crowd. A mad scramble ensued to find them.^[5]

The sticks are called shingi. It is believed that the two participants who located them will be the luckiest men of the year.

5 Cop Kong Gets Her Man

A determined citizen donned a gorilla cop disguise to stake out a pervert who had been flashing women in a park in Perth, Western Australia.

According to the anonymous woman, she had fallen victim to the sex pest several times. She talked with other women in the park and discovered that they had all suffered similar experiences. Typically, the man rode his bicycle with his shorts pulled up high around his waist so that his genitals were hanging out. On occasion, he had stopped and approached women on foot.

Determined to do something about it, the crime fighter took matters into her own hands. First, she put up posters around public areas warning people of a flasher. Then she began staking out the park he liked to frequent. Fearing he might recognize her, the woman wore a costume of a gorilla dressed up as a cop.

The bizarre gambit paid off. The concealed crusader spotted the offender and was able to follow him to his home without being spotted. She then relayed the information to the police, who charged him with four counts of indecent acts in public.^[6]

4 Radiation At Grand Canyon

For almost two decades, people who visited the Grand Canyon National Park museum could have been exposed to radiation thanks to uranium ore being stored in the vicinity.

Earlier this month, park staff members received a distressing email which said, “If you were in the Museum Collections Building (bldg 2C) between the year 2000 and June 18, 2018, you were ‘exposed’ to uranium by OSHA’s (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) definition.”^[7]

It came from safety manager Elston Stephenson. He discovered that three 19-liter (5 gal) buckets of uranium ore had been stored near the taxidermy exhibit for nearly 20 years.

Things weren’t as serious as they sounded, though. The ore contained only low amounts of radiation. Levels were below those needed for concern about public safety, although they were higher than “background radiation.” Legally, this is why employees had to be notified. OSHA inspectors don’t expect any health problems and currently label the area as “no risk.”

That being said, employees could have done a better job of disposing of the uranium. They finally decided to get rid of it last June. They moved the buckets using gardening gloves and mop handles. They took the ore to the Lost Orphan uranium mine from which it had come.

3 A Joker On Mars

Most of us have a preconceived notion of what astronauts should be like. They need to be tough (both physically and mentally), smart, determined, and cool as a cucumber. In the words of Tom Wolfe, they need to have “the right stuff.” However, research suggests that, if colonization missions to Mars are to be successful, at least one of those astronauts should be more of a class clown than a class president.

It all has to do with boosting morale and diffusing tense situations. Anthropologist Jeffrey Johnson from the University of Florida has been studying overwintering crews in Antarctica for four years to identify the importance of informal roles in helping teams work smoothly together. He pinpointed multiple vital characters such as the leader, the peacemaker, the counselor, and the clown (whose role is essential in creating group cohesion).

Johnson puts it simply: Groups who have the right combination of characters do well, and those who do not do badly. He uses the famed Amundsen polar expedition as an example. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen understood the importance of a friendly face and selected the rotund and jolly chef Adolf Lindstrom to be on his team. He later wrote that Lindstrom “rendered greater and more valuable services to the . . . expedition than any other man.”^[8]

Johnson has begun working with NASA to monitor groups of astronauts placed inside a mock space habitat in Houston, Texas. They want to see if the same informal dynamics are maintained in space environments.

2 May The Foil Be With You

In a galaxy far, far away, the French Fencing Federation has officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport.

Fencing clubs all over the country have been equipped with lightsabers and even offer training for those looking to live out their Star Wars fantasies. According to the federation’s Secretary General Serge Aubailly, this move was an effort to get young people to exercise more. He believes that they lead sedentary lifestyles that involve sitting on the couch and only exercising their thumbs.

In the past, cape-and-sword movies have had a big impact on fencing as a sport. Popular characters like Zorro and Robin Hood helped bring in a lot of new people interested in giving it a shot. Aubailly simply sees the Star Wars franchise as the next step.^[9]

The rules are similar to regular fencing, but they have been modified slightly to give the sport more visual appeal as one would expect in the movies. The rooms are darkened so that the glowing lightsabers are easier to see.

In order for a blow to count, the tip of the saber must first have been pointed behind the fighter’s head. This is to encourage more brazen, over-the-head blows as seen in Star Wars duels instead of the lightning-quick, tip-first strikes common in fencing.

1 Why The Zebra Got Its Stripes

In a new study published in the scientific journal PLOS One, researchers from the University of Bristol concluded that the striped pattern on zebras appeared to confuse and deter flies.

According to coauthor Dr. Martin How, the stripes affect the insects’ landing. Close-up footage showed that the flies zoomed quite fast into the zebras. Some turned away completely, while others crashed into the animals instead of doing controlled landings.^[10]

The stripes only appear to work as a deterrent from close range. Researchers believe that the low-resolution vision of flies will cause the zebras to look like regular gray horses from a distance of a few meters. The sudden reveal of the stripes might surprise the insects enough to make them veer away, or it might interfere with their ability to gauge correctly how fast the object is coming at them.

To be thorough, scientists needed to be sure that it was the stripes turning away the flies and not something else, such as a scent. Therefore, they dressed up horses in zebra coats to see if they would get the same results.

They also put plain white and plain black coats on other horses to act as a control. Indeed, the flies landed noticeably fewer times on the horses wearing stripes as compared to the ones clad in the other garments.

When a state has newspaper headlines that read, “Avoid reptiles as a holiday gift,” then you know there’s a problem. Florida has a reputation as the number-one state in the US for invasive species. Over the past decade or so, more than 260 exotic animals (that we know of) have escaped their cages and fled into the Florida wilderness. We’re not only talking about lions and tigers and bears (oh my) but also rhinos, jaguars, wolves, orangutans, and just about any exotic creature you can imagine. Many of these escaped convicts remain at large.^[1] However, this list is concerned with the species that, as exotic pets set free in the wild, were able to stick around and multiply. As the wise Jeff Goldblum predicted in Jurassic Park, life will always find a way . . .

Many of us dream of having an exotic pet, like Frida Kahlo with her monkeys or Tippi Hedren’s pet lion. Well, in Florida, you don’t need any special license or certificate to own many types of exotic pets. At the University of Florida, researchers confirm that the pet trade is the main reason for the introduction of invasive species. Exotic animals often begin as innocent pets but are released or escape into the Florida wilderness, for one reason or another, where they can wreak some serious havoc. Kenneth Krysko, manager of the Florida Museum of Natural History, says, “It’s like some mad scientist has thrown these species together from all around the world and said, ‘hey, let’s put them all together and see what happens.’ ” He warns that if the trends continue, Florida may have more invasive species than native. A wildlife ecology professor at the University of Florida likened the situation to “a slow-burning fuse lit to an ecological bomb.” Meanwhile, the exotic pet industry in the US makes $15 billion annually, and people continue to buy that flashy, unique pet that sounds alluring but is severely dangerous to both them and society at large.

10 Burmese Python

The largest Burmese python discovered in the Florida wild was 5.4 meters (18 ft) long and weighed 58 kilograms (128 lb). The man who found it in the brush, being a run-of-the-mill Floridian, grabbed it by the neck and held it up to his friends to see how big it was. The python quickly wrapped its muscled body twice around the man’s legs and then reached his waist. The man’s quick-thinking friend handed him a 23-centimeter (9 in) blade, which the soon-to-be victim used to decapitate the python.^[2]

Now, it is illegal to buy a Burmese python in Florida and for good reason. People used to buy these tiny snakes, which would grow to be about 1.8 meters (6 ft) long in a year’s time. That’s either too much work or slightly horrifying, so the owners would release their beloved pets into the Everglades. This happened enough that the pythons started to breed and thrive in the wet, subtropical climate. In no time, the snakes, who can produce up to 100 hatchlings at once, became the apex predator in the region.

There was a glimmer of hope that native alligators would be able to control the rapid rise of Burmese pythons, but instead, the gators are actually being eaten themselves. In one famous case in 2005, a python tried to consume a 1.8-meter (6 ft) alligator whole, but the snake exploded in the attempt. These battles are becoming a common occurrence. Since the pythons have mostly killed all of the marsh rabbits, bobcats, and other small mammals, the Everglades now call upon hunters to eliminate as many pythons as they possibly can. The hunters are paid minimum wage by the state, plus $50 for every 1.2-meter (4 ft) snake and $25 for each additional foot. In about a year’s time, hunters have bagged 1,000 pythons.

9 Rhesus Macaque

Most people don’t know that you can ride an inner tube down the Silver River in Ocala, Florida, and likely see wild monkeys swinging from the trees as you float by. In the 1930s, the owner of a privately owned park had the harebrained idea to release an entire colony of rhesus macaques as a tourist attraction. The park staff, being the clever humans that they were, put the monkeys on an island in the Silver River for safekeeping. Surprise! They can swim. Now there are hundreds that are spreading like wildfire through Central Florida.

These feral troublemakers travel in large gangs, and they can be aggressive when they feel threatened. They have been terrorizing people in their own backyards, but that’s not even the worst part.^[3] Recently, it was discovered that these macaques carry a herpes virus that spreads to humans through excrement and other bodily fluids. Having feces flung at you from a primate is horrifying enough without the fear of contracting herpes, thank you very much.

On that note, above is a hilarious video of the rhesus macaques chasing down a terrified family. Enjoy.

8 Green Iguana

Iguanas are Florida’s most invasive species. This green menace creates mayhem in suburbia, from leaving gifts in swimming pools and gobbling up gardens to disrupting electrical grids and causing power outages. People discard iguanas as pets because they are more work than expected, as they grow up to 1.8 meters (6 ft) long and require a ton of food. During mating season, they become increasingly hostile and lash out at their owners by biting them. On top of that, they may just try to escape through the doggie door.

Sadly, Floridians have resorted to combating this pest problem they created by using blunt-force trauma. In other words, people are paid to sneak up on them in the dead of night while they sleep and bash in their skulls. Jenny Ketterlin, a wildlife biologist who works for this $63,000 project commissioned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, ensures the public that swiftly smashing their brains open is actually the most humane way to kill them.^[4] Well, it’s good practice for the zombie apocalypse, I suppose.

7 Nile Monitor: Largest Lizard In Africa

The Nile monitor is yet another escapee from the pet trade that is now calling Florida home, sweet home. Instead of soaking in the sun along the Nile Delta, where they belong, they have wormed their way through Cape Coral’s extensive canal system since the 1990s. These skilled swimmers can reach a gruesome 2.1 meters (7 ft) long. They consume whatever they can get, whether that’s a wasp nest, poisonous cane toad, or venomous rattlesnake. Like wolves, they hunt in packs. Occasionally, they pop up from the canals to make a surprise appearance in someone’s backyard. Hopefully they aren’t hungry because they’ve been known to snack on cats and dogs.

It is incredibly difficult to eradicate them, as nobody has ever found a single monitor lizard nest. There are estimated to be at least 1,000 of these giant beasts currently roaming the Florida canals, tidal creeks, and mangroves. These giant lizards may also be seen if you happen to look up, as they are expert tree-climbers, so beware.^[5]

6 Capybara

Do you know what doesn’t sound like an ideal pet? The largest rodent in the world. A capybara is basically like a 45-kilogram (100 lb) guinea pig that’s semiaquatic. It turns out, that’s not as cute as some pet owners thought it would be. Go figure! As of 2016, there were about 50 capybaras running amok in Florida. In its South American home, it has predators like the puma and jaguar, but in Florida, there are no coyotes or dogs big enough to take down a capybara.

It doesn’t help matters that they are social animals, traveling in groups through thick forest.^[6] As if Florida hunters didn’t have enough game to contend with, let’s throw a giant guinea pig in the mix.

5 ‘Testicle-Eating’ Pacu Fish

The South American pacu fish has an unusual bite because of its eerie, humanlike set of teeth. They are a cousin to the flesh-eating piranha, but instead of the razor-sharp teeth of their cousins, they have teeth that are blunt like our molars. The pacu also grows to be much, much larger. They typically reach about 22.7 kilograms (50 lb) throughout South-Central Florida.

Even though the pacu is normally not an imminent threat to men’s genitalia, it did receive the moniker of “testicle-eating” fish for a good reason. According to Henrik Carl, a fish expert at the National History Museum of Denmark, “There have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea, where some men have had their testicles bitten off. They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth.”^[7] It’s no wonder why owners released these exotic fish! Suddenly, the bizarre allure of a human smile on a fish feels a bit more sinister.

4 Giant African Land Snails

The giant African land snail is not to be confused with any meager snail of small proportions. It is, in fact, the world’s largest terrestrial mollusk. We’re talking a 20-centimeter-long (8 in) snail that’s 10 centimeters (4 in) in diameter. This destructive little creature carries a parasitic worm that burrows into humans and spreads meningitis. It consumes at least 500 types of plants and causes permanent damage to the plaster and stucco of buildings. An adult lays up to 1,200 eggs in a single year, and with no natural predators in Florida, there’s no end in sight for its infestation.

It’s a bit of a mystery why giant African land snails populate South Florida. They are illegal to import into the United States without a permit, and no permits have ever been issued. While no one is positive, it seems the pet trade is to blame for the giant snail takeover. The last known invasion was in 1966, when a young boy smuggled three snails into the country as his secret pets. When his grandma found out, she made him set them free in the garden. It cost more than $1 million to eradicate the 18,000 snails that this incident created.

Another suspicion is that the current infestation of hundreds of thousands of giant African land snails in South Florida has been the result of religious ritual. Santeria is an Afro-Caribbean religion steeped in traditions that developed from the Cuban slave trade. Some of the religious rituals put emphasis on the juice of these snails. It’s suspected that they are smuggled into the country for this purpose.^[8]

3 Wild Boars

Wild boars have been roaming free throughout the Sunshine State since the 1500s, when Hernando de Soto brought them to Florida, not as a beloved pet but as a food source. Now, it has been over 500 years, and these feral pigs are nowhere near domesticated. Four million wild boars have spread across the United States, but in Florida alone, there are half a million.

They are an aggressive, tusked, 91-kilogram (200 pound) Old World swine that carry up to 24 diseases, from tuberculosis to cholera, and constantly consume farmers’ feed and even livestock. They are difficult to control, to say the least, as they are basically one giant muscle. There are also all the usual unpleasantries of invasive species, like damaging native plants and competing with native species. It basically messes up the proper chain of events that lets an ecosystem flourish.

As a result of their continued population growth, Florida hunters have trained bloodhounds to track them down at night. There are no rules that limit hunting to a certain season. There are no size, bag, or gender restrictions. Behind the white-tailed deer, the wild boar is the second most popular animal to hunt in Florida. Some inventive entrepreneurs are even flipping the boar problem on its head, making profit by serving them up on a platter and calling them prime pork.^[9] Bacon anyone?

2 African Clawed Frog

Before modern-day pregnancy tests were invented, doctors used an African clawed frog to assess the situation. The procedure involved exposing the frog to a woman’s urine, commonly via injection, and waiting for hours to see what would happen. If the frog laid eggs, it meant the woman was having a baby. This method of pregnancy detection remained popular until the 1970s, when modern pregnancy kits went on the market.

Needless to say, there was a high demand for African clawed frogs until this time. Thousands of these little critters were shipped from South Africa to labs and hospitals, not only in the US but all over the world. To supply the high demand, they were bred in captivity. They were easy to care for, so a pet trade developed around them in the 1950s and 1960s. From unwanted pets and escapees to doctors releasing them from their labs due to technology advancements, they multiplied fast. These frogs with clawed toes live for up to 15 years in the wild, and females create 27,000 eggs per reproductive cycle.^[10] Their growing numbers are alarming, to say the least.

1 ‘Man-Eater’ Nile Crocodile

The Nile crocodile can grow over 6 meters (20 ft) long and weigh as much as a small car. They eat whatever they can get hold of, including the occasional human (hence its description of “man-eater”). From sub-Saharan Africa, they were introduced to South Florida, presumably via the pet trade, even though whoever thought that a crocodile would make a great pet clearly didn’t have a permit.

Nile crocodiles are much more dangerous than the native alligator population in Florida. In six years, American alligators and crocodiles were the cause of 33 human fatalities, but in the same time period, the Nile crocodile killed 268 people. As far as we know, they have been surviving and breeding for at least six years in the Florida swamps.^[11] As if Floridians didn’t have enough monsters lurking in the water.

Far too often, the media focuses on negative events while positive news items take a back seat. That’s not the case here as this list covers only stories that inspire, amuse, and uplift. If weirdness is more your thing, you can check out the offbeat list, too.

There are several stories this week of elderly people who prove that age is nothing but a number. A neighborhood bands together to help a deaf girl while a hockey ref fights against Alzheimer’s with a little support from AC/DC.

10 The Senior Junior Ranger

A centenarian became a junior ranger of the Grand Canyon National Park to encourage newer generations to protect and learn about the great outdoors.

Rose Torphy made her first trip to the Grand Canyon back in 1985. Now, on her second visit, she heard about the junior ranger program and wanted to be a part of it. Her parents taught her to care for the land, and in turn, she desires to do the same for other kids.

Although the junior program is intended for children, it is available to everyone from ages four and up. Therefore, Rose was able to enlist even though the 103-year-old is actually older than the national park she has sworn to protect. On February 26, the Grand Canyon will be celebrating 100 years since its designation as a national park.^[1]

9 An Unlikely Savior

A Florida inmate used his criminal expertise for good to rescue a baby trapped inside a locked car.

It all started when the father of the child strapped his one-year-old daughter in the safety seat in the back of his Chevy Tahoe and threw the keys in the front seat. He then exited the SUV and instinctively closed the door. Only then did he realize that he had just locked himself out of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, a group of low-level offenders was repairing medians nearby under the supervision of Pasco County deputies. They heard the commotion and rushed to help. One of them used a coat hanger to jimmy the lock and open the door of the car. The whole thing took about five minutes, and the baby was completely safe.

Her mother, Shadow Lantry, filmed the whole thing and then posted it on social media. She was grateful to the men who had dashed to her rescue, saying that she respects them all.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco admitted that such opportunities are rare where a criminal breaks into a car for the right reasons. However, he also extended his appreciation toward the inmates by claiming that they are individuals who have made mistakes but want to “do the right thing in life.”^[2]

8 Rowing Seniors Claim World Record

Two English grandfathers in their early sixties became the oldest duo to row across the Atlantic Ocean while simultaneously raising money for veterans’ charities.

Neil Young and Peter Ketley have the combined age of 123. Despite this, the two former paratroopers were able to row 4,828 kilometers (3,000 mi) from the Canary Islands to Antigua in just 63 days. Moreover, they had no previous rowing experience apart from a year-long training regimen they underwent before departing in December 2018.

Ketley and Young took part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Started in 1997 by Sir Chay Blyth as the Atlantic Rowing Race, this endurance event touts itself as the “world’s toughest row.” The aging duo managed to raise over £30,000 to support charities such as Dreams Come True, Support Our Paras, and the Royal British Legion Industries.^[3]

7 It Takes A Village

All the people of a neighborhood in Newton, Massachusetts, have begun learning sign language so that they can communicate with their deaf two-year-old neighbor.

Samantha Savitz is just like many young kids her age: She’s happy, outgoing, and loves to chat up people. There is just one problem, though. Sam is deaf. She knows sign language, but that is not a skill many other people have. Therefore, her attempts at social engagement often go unanswered. Sam is left visibly frustrated, even sad, when she is unable to communicate.

Her neighbors have noticed this and decided to do something about it. They got together, hired a teacher, and began taking American Sign Language classes. The instructor, Rhys McGovern, has been impressed with the kinship and care shown in this community.

Rhys remarked that, in other cases, not even the parents of a deaf child bother learning sign language, let alone the neighbors. Sam’s mother, Glenda Savitz, already sees a difference in her daughter’s behavior and is still looking for a way to express her gratitude for her neighborhood’s “shocking and beautiful” gesture.^[4]

6 One Good Deed Deserves Another

An amateur Canadian hockey ref has been doing marathon skate sessions to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease. This year’s session came with a surprise donation from his favorite rocker, Angus Young from AC/DC.

Steve McNeil has been skating for charity since 2012 in honor of his mother who died from Alzheimer’s. She was born in 1926, so McNeil skates for 19 hours and 26 minutes in every Canadian city that has an NHL team. Since he started, McNeil has raised over C$40,000, which he donates to the local chapters of the Alzheimer Society.^[5]

Sometimes, it gets really cold and tiresome on the ice. When that happens, Steve has two things to keep him going. He thinks of his mother’s home cooking, and he cranks up AC/DC on his headphones. He has always been a massive fan of the band, but they’ve been on his mind more in recent years after Malcolm Young died of dementia.

Word of Steve McNeil’s efforts reached Malcolm’s brother, AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young. To show his approval, the rocker donated C$19,260 to the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. The money will be distributed to support music programs for people with dementia across Canada.

5 Remembrance Of Things Past

An antique dealer found a letter from World War I among a stack of old papers she bought for a dollar. It was a “thank you” from Canadian soldier Earl Sorel to the sister of another fighter who had sacrificed his life to save Sorel at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Amanda Kehler owns a cafe and antique shop in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada. She was going through a bunch of recently purchased documents when she found the letter from Sorel, a soldier with the 78th Battalion. It was postmarked May 1917.

The letter detailed the heroics of Sergeant Gorden. He was in charge of a platoon at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. They had pushed for about 1,100 meters (3,600 ft) when Sorel heard a loud “bang” and felt a sharp burning in his back and left arm. He had been shot, but Gorden carried him to a shell hole.

Sorel was eventually taken to a dressing station and survived his injuries. He found out the next day that Gorden had been killed in the charge. However, Sorel wanted the sergeant’s sister to know that her brother “died a hero, along with many others that day.”^[6]

4 Grateful Like Gary

Celebrities and veterans banded together this week to create a heartwarming video thanking actor Gary Sinise for all the charity work he has done to benefit military families and first responders.

Titled #GratefulLikeGary, the video was made to surprise Sinise after the release of his book Grateful American: A Journey From Self To Service. Jay Leno, Rob Lowe, Robert De Niro, and Steve Buscemi are just a few of the actors who appeared in the clip alongside many firefighters and soldiers.

Sinise became involved with charity work for veterans after starring as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, which is celebrating 25 years since its release later this year. He founded the Gary Sinise Foundation which raises around $30 million a year for veterans.

He also built dozens of smart homes for soldiers with disabilities and organized over 400 benefit concerts. He is even part of a cover group called the Lt. Dan Band which does USO shows.

Fittingly, the tribute video ends with his Forrest Gump costar Tom Hanks saying simply, “Thanks, Lt. Dan.”^[7]

3 Back From Extinction

It has been a good week for large species of animals thought to be extinct. The world’s biggest bee has been found alive in Indonesia, and a giant Galapagos tortoise was sighted for the first time in over 100 years.

Megachile pluto is also known as Wallace’s giant bee, named after Alfred Russel Wallace who first collected and described it in 1858. The female can reach a length of 3.8 centimeters (1.5 in) with a wingspan over 6 centimeters (2.5 in) long.

It was considered extinct in modern times until scientists found a few specimens in the Indonesian Bacan Islands in 1981. Then the species was not seen again and was feared extinct once more.

This January, however, a team of wildlife experts journeyed to the North Moluccas islands and caught sight of Wallace’s giant bee once again. They only found one female, but it was enough to give them hope that the insect is still thriving in areas left alone by man.

On the Galapagos island of Fernandina, a scientific expedition found a tortoise species not seen since 1906. According to the Ecuadorian government, researchers found an adult female Fernandina giant tortoise believed to be over a century old.

Moreover, they also discovered tracks and scents which suggest that she is not the only one of her species still around. Conservationists are hoping to find other tortoises, including males, to start a breeding program.^[8]

2 The Crochet Whiz Kid

An 11-year-old kid from La Crosse, Wisconsin, has won over the online world thanks to his mad skills at crochet.

It’s not exactly a typical pastime for young boys, but Jonah Larson’s newfound fame has turned him into an ambassador of the crochet world. He started learning when he was five years old by watching YouTube videos. Jonah quickly discovered that he had a knack for it, and now he gives his own online lessons.

The young man also started selling his creations through his own crochet business called Jonah’s Hands. His story went viral after being recently featured in a local paper, and Jonah had to temporarily stop taking requests to fulfill a backlog of over 2,500 orders. He also makes sure to give back to the community and regularly donates money and goods to the Ethiopian orphanage from which he was adopted.

Right now, Jonah is happy with his role of introducing new generations to crochet. His ambition, however, is to put his skillful hands to a different use in the future as he wants to become a surgeon.^[9]

1 Flyby For Fallen Soldiers

The story of one man’s dedication led to 10,000 people attending a flyby over Endcliffe Park, Sheffield, to honor 10 American airmen who died there in 1944.

It all began in early January when BBC presenter Dan Walker was walking his dog and ran into octogenarian Tony Foulds. The latter was tending to a memorial dedicated to the crew of US bomber Mi Amigo. On February 22, 1944, the plane was coming back from a bombing run. It crashed into the woodlands of Endcliffe Park, and all 10 men aboard died.

Foulds was there that day. He was an eight-year-old boy playing with his mates in the open field. He feels guilty about the crash because he believes the pilot wanted to land in the field but veered at the last moment to avoid smashing into the children. Since then, Foulds has spent decades looking after the memorial.

Walker told Tony’s story and began campaigning for a flyby to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the crash. Word spread on social media, and the campaign was a success. On Friday, Foulds was joined by around 10,000 people who gathered to witness American and British aircraft take off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk and do a flyby over the park.^[10]

Mankind’s love of records left behind countless documents. Needless to say, some are so common that the very sight of them makes people regret going to the museum.

Then there are the secret codes and oaths, unique manuscripts, and caves marked with people’s fear. Text-obsessed scholars are talking in dead tongues and admit once again that the ancient Egyptians did some amazing things.

The world of rare words and pictures is a magnetic one. Sometimes, it’s even downright funny.

10 Oldest Near-Death Case

In 1740, a French doctor called Pierre-Jean du Monchaux described a curious case. An unconscious patient had recovered, only to describe a light so pure and white that the man was convinced he had stood with one shoe in Heaven. The case was included in the doctor’s book, Anecdotes de Medecine.

It might have gone unnoticed if not for Phillippe Charlier, who recently riffled through an antique shop. Ironically, he was also a French doctor. He found the book by chance and bought it for less than $1.

When he read about the case, Charlier realized he was looking at the world’s oldest report of a near-death experience. It was a time when people leaned on religion to explain such things, but the ancient physician stayed professional. He suggested a medical reason—too much blood rushing to the brain.

Monchaux’s assessment nearly matched modern explanations. Today, researchers think a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain cause the sensations of a near-death experience.^[1]

9 The Mysterious Devourer

In 2017, archaeologists took their shovels to a shrine-like building. The small structure stood at Zincirli in Turkey and soon yielded a pot. The stone vessel originally held cosmetics but was reused to display an incantation.

A story was carved over the surface, describing the capture of something called a “devourer” which was said to bring “fire” to its victims. The only way a person could recover was to use the devourer’s own blood.

The incantation did not specify how the blood was to be administered or the creature’s identity. Illustrations suggested that it was either a centipede or a scorpion. The “fire” sounds like a painful sting.

The author was a magician called Rahim, who carved the advice in Aramaic 2,800 years ago. This made it the oldest Aramaic incantation ever found. Archaeologists believe that the incantation was important enough to preserve after the magician’s lifetime because the inscription was already over a century old by the time the temple was built.^[2]

8 Dirty Bathroom Jokes

Ancient bathrooms with floor mosaics are rare. When one was found in 2018 in Turkey’s ancient city of Antiochia ad Cragum, it was a cause for celebration. However, the images were not beautifully rendered legends or geometric patterns. The tiny tiles told dirty jokes.

As Roman men visited the latrine around 1,800 years ago, they would have been amused by the antics of Narcissus and Ganymede. Both men belonged to real myths. Narcissus was in love with his own image. Ganymede was kidnapped by the god Zeus as a slave but also as a love interest.

The mosaics twisted the stories, first by giving Narcissus an ugly nose. Instead of admiring his reflection, he appeared to be fixated on his genitals. Ganymede’s scene was even more detailed. He was getting his private parts sponged clean by a heron. The type of sponge was usually reserved for cleaning toilets, and the bird represented Zeus.^[3]

The unusual theme stunned archaeologists but at least proved that bathroom humor is nothing new.

7 The Creswell Marks

The border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire is marked by a limestone gorge. Called Creswell Crags, the site is historically significant. Apart from past discoveries of ancient remains, Creswell holds the only Ice Age art in Britain.

After years of investigations, the caves managed to deliver a big surprise in 2019. A tour group stumbled upon the country’s largest collection of apotropaic marks. The engravings had nothing do to with the Ice Age gallery. The latter were thousands of years older, while the newfound carvings were from medieval times until the 19th century.

Historians recognized several of the symbols. Also called witches’ marks, their purpose was to protect the living from bad supernatural influences. Among the most popular was “VV,” invoking the Virgin Mary. Others—like boxes, mazes, and diagonal stripes—captured whatever mysterious evil brought diseases and made the crops fail.^[4]

Dense clusters of symbols lined the ceilings and walls of the caves, a testament to the local people’s fear of the unknown.

6 The Nag Hammadi Library

Around 1,400 years ago, a jar was buried in Egypt. Containing 13 codices, the vessel was rediscovered in 1945 near the town of Nag Hammadi. The rolls contained Gnostic records of Jesus. The Gnostic tradition, an early and sometimes mystical branch of Christianity, is considered to be heretical by mainstream Christians. Most were traditionally penned in Coptic, a language that was spoken in Egypt for centuries.^[5]

In 2017, researchers in Texas found that one codex was different. Instead of Coptic scribbles, the text was Greek. This was exceptional. The work in question, the First Apocalypse of James, had never been recovered in ancient Greek before. The piece covered a conversation between Jesus and James, the latter taking instructions on how to continue teaching after Jesus’s death.

Another feature that set the scroll apart was little dots that divided the text into syllables. This rare technique is known from educational texts, which suggested the writer used the heretical gospel to teach Greek to students.

5 Unique Palimpsest

Centuries ago, writing material was expensive. Sometimes, an old manuscript would be scraped clean and inked with new information. These recycled documents are known as palimpsests.

In 2018, Dr. Eleonore Cellard assessed fragments containing Quran script. She noticed ghostly letters behind the eighth-century Arabic text and identified several Bible passages. Written in Coptic, they belonged to the Old Testament’s Book of Deuteronomy.

The find was extraordinary. Quran palimpsests are rare enough, but never before had a Christian document been erased to make space for the Islamic holy book. The writing style dated the Arabic text, but the Coptic was more difficult to place.^[6]

The fragility of the manuscript prevented carbon dating. Even if the document was strong enough, the technique can only date the paper and not the writing. Once again, the style was the only clue.

Unfortunately, it was a very broad one. The original Coptic was not written before the seventh century. Despite the dating issue, the palimpsest remains invaluable for its uniqueness.

4 Earliest Record Of Algol

The star Algol is actually a 3-in-1 deal. Officially discovered in 1669, the three suns move around each other, causing the “star” to dim and brighten. A papyrus studied in 2015 suggested that the ancient Egyptians discovered it first.

Called the Cairo Calendar, the document guided each day of the year, giving auspicious dates for ceremonies, forecasts, warnings, and even the activities of the gods. Previously, researchers felt the ancient calendar had a link to the heavens, but they never had any proof.

The study found that the calendar’s positive days matched Algol’s brightest days as well as those of the Moon. The appearances of one deity, Horus, also matched the star system’s 2,867-day cycle.

This strongly suggests that the ancient Egyptians were the first to follow Algol around 3,200 years ago. More remarkably, they did so without a telescope even though the system was almost 92.25 light-years away.^[7]

3 Unique Ninja Oath

In Japan, rumors of a written ninja oath persisted for almost 50 years. If true, this was a historic gem. Unlike movie ninjas, the real guys used stealth to gather intelligence and rarely used weapons. Most of their traditions and training were passed down verbally from master to student. A written document, especially an oath, would be a first.

In 2018, the piece finally surfaced. It was donated to a museum by the Kizu family, once a ninja clan from the town of Iga. The donated cache consisted of 130 ancient documents, but the oath was the most remarkable. Written by a man called Inosuke Kizu, he thanked his masters for the ninjutsu training and vowed to never reveal the secret knowledge. Not even to his immediate family.

The 300-year-old paper also captured the penalty of sharing ninja techniques with outsiders. The author accepted that his betrayal would cause his descendants to be tortured by the gods for generations. The letter was probably handed to his masters and returned to the Kizu family after his death.^[8]

2 Ferdinand’s Code

To safeguard military information from his enemies, King Ferdinand of Spain wrote in secret code. It was a little too effective. His correspondence with a commander named Gonzalo de Cordoba went undeciphered for 500 years.

Ferdinand sponsored Christopher Columbus’s trips to the Americas and fought several enemies. He recaptured Spain from the Moors in 1492 and battled France for the Mediterranean.

The letters promised interesting insights into the war king’s mind. Spain’s intelligence agency picked up the challenge. Ferdinand’s alphabet had 88 symbols, 237 letters, and six accompanying characters (such as numbers and triangles) that made each letter’s meaning more complex. In addition, the “language” ran continuously without breaks to indicate words.^[9]

In 2018, after six months, the agency cracked enough of the code to read four pieces of correspondence. They revealed details ranging from instructions on troop deployment in Italy to berating the commander for making decisions without Ferdinand’s approval. The breakthrough is a good step toward cracking the rest of the royal mail.

1 Extinct Language Spoken Again

A Cambridge academic loved ancient Babylonian so much that he decided to learn the language. Not just to read it but to speak it correctly. Babylonian went extinct around the time that Jesus was born.

Nearly 2,000 years of silence did not deter Dr. Martin Worthington, who already spoke Sumerian, Assyrian, English, Italian, and French. For over 20 years, he dove into ancient scripts and compiled a unique archive of research.

After gleaning correspondence, treaties, letters, and scientific reports written in Babylonian, Worthington arrived at a point where he could speak it. He was the first to admit that the project was not perfect. Although he could give a speech in the lost language, he was not fluent.

Worthington now teaches the language to Assyriology students, mainly to bring them closer to the ancient world they chose to study. Interestingly, if the two were to meet, ancient Babylonians might understand modern speakers because the language is related to Hebrew and Arabic, which replaced Babylonian as the Middle East’s dominant language.^[10]

There are times when we would all like to have superpowers. For most of us, this has to remain an idle daydream. However, there are people walking among us who already have totally legitimate and totally cool superhuman powers.

And who knows, perhaps these are the tip of the iceberg. There may be lots of them, living in the shadows or hiding in plain sight, waiting for their chance to save (or destroy) the planet! Here are ten real-life people with honest-to-goodness superpowers.

10 The Real-Life Batman

As a baby, Daniel Kish developed retinoblastoma, a cancer which affects the eyes. He had to have both eyes removed before he reached his first birthday. In order to navigate his environment, Kish developed his own echolocation system, using the same techniques that bats use to fly in the dark. In fact, he has been referred to as “the real-life Batman.”

As he moved around, Kish would make clicking noises with his tongue. He realized that every surface had its own sound. He could recognize a tree, for example, because the trunk produces a different echo than the branches and the leaves.^[1]

By listening to the echoes from his clicking, Daniel Kish is able to build a 3-D image in his mind of the objects around him. It is thought that the clicking noises activate the visual functions of the brain, which enhance spatial and depth perceptions. Kish says that he can often find his way out of a concert hall quicker than a sighted person because he can identify the exit from a long distance away. If he is in a noisy place, he just increases the volume of his clicking sounds.

9 The Real-Life Mr. Freeze

Like all good superheroes, Wim Hof discovered his superpowers by accident. When he was 17, he was walking along a frozen canal in his home city of Amsterdam when he felt a powerful urge to jump in. So he did. He soon discovered that he has superhuman ability to withstand the cold, which has led him to claim 26 world records.

He tried to climb Everest in a pair of shorts. Although he made it through the Death Zone unharmed, he was forced to turn back, not by the temperature but by a foot injury. Hof has run barefoot marathons in the snow and broken his own record for ice submergence four times.

Researchers studying Wim Hof’s remarkable abilities have discovered that he is able to override the stress responses in his brain through breathing and meditation techniques. When he is exposed to extreme cold, his brain releases opioids and cannabinoids into his body, inhibiting the signals that register cold and pain. What is not yet clear is how this breathing affects other physical and biological processes, such as Hof’s superhuman ability to resist frostbite, which should be unaffected by his breathing technique.^[2]

8 The Real-Life Flash

Dean Karnazes can run forever. He is one of the most remarkable endurance athletes on the planet. He once ran nonstop for 563 kilometers (350 mi) over three days. He ran nonstop across Death Valley and even ran to the South Pole. Even among ultra-endurance athletes, Dean Karnazes is a superhuman.

Most runners are limited by their body’s lactate threshold. The body breaks down glucose for energy, producing lactate as a by-product. When you reach your lactate threshold, the body is no longer able to convert the lactate quickly enough, leading to an acid buildup in the muscles and a burning pain runners call “hitting the wall.” Running beyond your lactate threshold will lead to muscle fatigue, breathlessness, and a racing heart, until eventually you collapse in a sweating, gasping heap.

Dean Karnazes does not have a lactate threshold, which means that, theoretically, he can run forever.

Karnazes has never experienced any form of cramp or muscle ache, even during runs that last more than 160 kilometers (100 mi). The only thing that stops him is his need for sleep, and he has even sometimes experienced bouts of “sleep running,” where he was able to keep on moving while nodding off.^[3]

7 The Real-Life Spider-Man

Nicknamed the “French Spiderman,” Alain Robert is one of the best climbers on Earth. He is famous for his free solo-climbing exploits up skyscrapers, without the use of ropes or safety harness. The only “equipment” that he carries is a bag of chalk dust. Robert has climbed over 160 skyscrapers, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan, and the Lloyd’s building in London.^[4]

Robert was arrested in October 2018 after scaling the Salesforce Tower in London. He climbed the 202-meter (662 ft) tower without safety equipment, while a crowd gathered below to watch him. Though he reached the top safely, he was soon arrested “on suspicion of causing public nuisance.”

Following a court hearing after the stunt, which only took around 45 minutes to complete, Robert was banned from climbing any building in the UK, which seems a shame. But, then again, the world is full of friendly neighborhoods with tall buildings.

6 The Real-Life Professor X

The actress Marilu Henner has superhuman mental powers. She has Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), an extremely rare condition which allows her total recall of basically every single moment of her life. Fewer than 100 people with the condition have been documented worldwide. Though HSAM would make life easier in many ways (imagine never having to wonder where you put your car keys), there are some disadvantages, too. People with HSAM are more likely to have anxiety disorders and suffer from depression or OCD.

Marilu Henner can recall the month, day, and time of every event that has happened in her life and can also recall things that were on the news or happened to other people. She first became aware of her ability at the age of six.

MRI tests have revealed that people with HSAM have larger temporal lobes and caudate nuclei than normal, but researchers are not sure whether this is the cause or the result of living with the condition. Whatever the cause, Henner has found living with HSAM pretty useful at times, particularly when learning lines.^[5]

5 The Real-Life Elastigirl

Javier Botet is a Spanish actor with a peculiar gift. His extremely long limbs and lean body give him the look of a human skeleton. When he made a screen test in 2013, many people assumed that they were watching a puppet because Botet was able to move his limbs in very unexpected and disturbing ways. Botet suffers from Marfan syndrome, which results in hyperflexibility.

His condition has allowed him to carve out a career in horror movies, where he has appeared as aliens, lepers, monsters, and mummies, as well as the urban folklore-inspired Slender Man. He first noticed the condition as a child and liked to fold his arms and legs into unusual shapes.^[6] (Well, we all need a hobby.)

Marfan syndrome is a rare genetic disorder, resulting in extreme height and slenderness as well as hyperflexibility. It can also cause heart defects and blindness. For the moment, however, Javier Botet is using this elastic powers to conquer Hollywood.

4 The Real-Life Overseer

An unnamed family from Connecticut has been the center of much study by genetic scientists due to their unusually high bone density. Just like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, the family has a genetic mutation that means their bones never break.

No one in the family has ever had a fracture, and it is thought that they have the strongest bones on the planet, which is impressive. It appears that the condition is genetic. Scientists tested 20 members of the family, with just under half of them being found to have extra dense bones. It is hoped that by studying the DNA of those family members with the condition, researchers will be able to more fully understand the factors affecting bone density, which could lead to treatments for osteoporosis.^[7]

The condition means that the Connecticut family will never need a plaster cast, though they may find themselves spending a lot of money on plastic ponchos. (That’s an Unbreakable joke.)

3 The Real-Life Invisible Woman

It is a universally accepted truth that we all have a unique set of fingerprints. Even identical twins differ when it comes to the minute whorls and loops on a set of dabs. Modern technology has made use of this unique property when it comes to things like cybersecurity, which must make Cheryl Maynard feel pretty invisible.^[8]

Fingerprints are usually fully formed even before we are born. People with adermatoglyphia, however, are born with no fingerprints. (In the picture above, Cheryl’s finger is compared with a normal one.) It is believed that there are only four extended families in the world with this condition, caused by a genetic mutation.

The condition has left Cheryl Maynard feeling pretty invisible. Having no fingerprints has even made it difficult for her to get jobs. However, if she fancied a career as a criminal, she would have a head start.

2 The Real-Life Vision

In 1972, when Veronica Seider claimed to be able to see small objects 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) away, no one believed her. However, eyesight is pretty easy to test, so it soon became clear that Seider’s vision was truly exceptional. She was soon listed by Guinness World Records with eyesight 20 times more powerful than normal human beings.

Not only is she able to distinguish people and objects from 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) away, but she is also able to judge distance and position, which can be useful. And she can distinguish the individual colors that make up the color on a television set. Not so useful.^[9]

1 The Real-Life Deadpool

Okay, well maybe this isn’t exactly like Deadpool, but a woman identified only as “SM” has a condition known as Urbach-Wiethe, which has damaged parts of her brain. As a result, she feels no fear. At all. Totally fearless.

The condition manifested first as a complete lack of fear from all external stimuli—such as the large, venomous spiders and snakes she picked up as a child. Once, when she was being held up at knifepoint, her attacker was so unnerved by her lack of fear that he let her go.

Like all superheroes, however, SM does have one weakness. After a barrage of tests where she had shown no fear responses, she was exposed to carbon dioxide and suddenly had a panic attack. Neurologists studying her brain hypothesized that impending suffocation finally produced a fear response where no other stimuli could. However, when the test was repeated, SM did not show any anxiety until the gas started to take effect, proving that her response had been a physical reaction to suffocation rather than a psychological manifestation of fear.^[10]

It could be worse. She could be afraid of cows.

Ward Hazell is a writer who travels, and an occasional travel writer.