Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 185
September 2, 2020
September 1, 2020
New Research Suggests Our Fingers Evolved From Ancient Fish
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Believe It or Not! fish have most recently been linked to the evolution of our human hands and fingers.
That’s right! A new study suggests that our hands and fingers evolved from the fins of Elpistostege, a four-limbed fish that lived about 380 million years ago.
One of the most significant events in the history of life was when fish evolved into tetrapods, crawling out of the water and eventually conquering land.
New research out today suggests human hands likely evolved from the fins of the Elpistostege fish.https://t.co/1Zmon1BNOx
— The Conversation (@ConversationEDU) March 19, 2020
In March 2020, John Long, of Flinders University in Australia and Richard Cloutier, of the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) in Canada, published a paper in Nature describing how they’ve been studying the first complete Elpistostege specimen, which they discovered in eastern Canada 10 years ago.
“One of the most significant events in the history of life was when fish evolved into tetrapods, crawling out of the water and eventually conquering land,” they wrote for EarthSky.org. “The term tetrapod refers to four-limbed vertebrates, including humans.
“To complete this transition, several anatomical changes were necessary,” they continued. “One of the most important was the evolution of hands and feet.”
The Elpistostege seems to resemble a giant eel with four flipper-like legs, which were thought to enable it to crawl through shallow water onto land, way back during what is known as the Late Devonian period, millions of years ago. But this water-to-land evolution has been debated for years.
Still, the 2020 study provides new, tantalizing evidence. Tiny, radial bones exist in a series of rows in the Elpistostege pectoral fins, and they act just like fingers.
The difference? The bones are locked inside the fin. But they’re there, and scientists say they probably helped better distribute weight when the creature was crawling.
A Nature paper describes the discovery of a fossil fish with skeletal digit-like appendages in the pectoral fin provides insights into the origins of the vertebrate hand. The fossil is the most complete specimen of Elpistostege watsoni. https://t.co/SusDtT3CvB pic.twitter.com/bsyGeRFd1s
— Nature (@nature) March 19, 2020
“Other four-limbed creatures … have hands that look and function quite differently than ours do,” the pair wrote for Scientific American. “In birds and bats, they help to form delicate wings; in elephants, they support limbs as big around as tree trunks. But the basic structure is the same.
“The fossil preserves in its fins bones comparable to the ones that make up our fingers, showing that digits evolved before vertebrates left the water,” they continued. “This discovery overturns the conventional wisdom about when and how the hand evolved and shines new light on the rise of tetrapods, a pivotal event in the history of life on earth.”
The pair reported that along with the fingers, their specimen included the presence of a humerus (an arm), radius and ulna (forearm), and carpal bones (wrist).
“Elpistostege blurs the line between fish and vertebrates capable of living on land,” Long and Cloutier wrote. “It’s not necessarily our ancestor, but it’s now the closest example we have of a ‘transitional fossil’, closing the gap between fish and tetrapods.”
Plainly, it suggests that our fingers and hands first evolved in the fins of elpistostegalian fish.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
But trust us. This isn’t just some big fish story.
The next time you visit a Ripley’s Aquarium or try to win a goldfish at the local fair, just stop for a moment and remember to be tankful for our little underwater friends.
By Ryan Clark, contributor for Ripleys.com and host of Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast
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Source: New Research Suggests Our Fingers Evolved From Ancient Fish
August 31, 2020
The Royally Fascinating Life Of Diana, Princess Of Wales
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Princess Diana was just 36 years old when she died in a tragic car crash in 1997, but in this short lifetime, it’s safe to say she did a whole lot of living. While most people know the basics about the royal, there are many things one may be surprised to learn. From her part-time job earning money as a teenager to her passions, dreams, and aspirations before marrying Charles, let’s waltz our way into some unusual facts about the “People’s Princess,” Diana.
Princess Diana dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina.
As the daughter of an earl, becoming a dancer wasn’t exactly a practical profession for the aristocratic Diana. However, that didn’t stop her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. What did set her back were her long legs and five-foot-ten stature—the future princess simply wasn’t the proper height. Her ballet teacher, Anne Allan, once said of her student, “She had dance in her soul. I realized the pure enjoyment that it gave her. She loved the freeness of being able to move and dance. She loved it.”
Instead of dancing for a living, Diana supported the English National Ballet and infamously danced with actor, John Travolta, during a party at the White House in 1985. She also became friends with the dancer, Wayne Sleep, and even asked him for a few lessons. They danced together at the Royal Opera House in the ’80s.
He later said of their performance, “The audience gasped when Diana appeared, as if they’d all taken one huge breath. The routine had a bit of everything: jazz, ballet, even a kick line. At one point, I pirouetted and she pushed me down; then I carried her across the stage. I remember thinking, ‘Don’t drop the future Queen of England.’”
Her love for dance has apparently rubbed off on her grandson, Prince George, who started taking ballet classes at the age of five.
Princess Diana’s wedding dress was the longest in royal history, and a piece of her wedding cake sold for a mighty sum.
Diana’s wedding dress was designed by husband-and-wife duo, David and Elizabeth Emanuel. It was a beautiful silk-taffeta creation that strongly reflected the eighties aesthetic. With puffy sleeves, 10,000 mother-of-pearl beads, thousands of sequins, and antique lace once that was once owned by Queen Mary, the gown cost a reported $115,000 to create. The gown also had a 25-foot train and was longer than any other royal wedding dress in history.
Princess Diana & Prince Charles, Sovereign Series Royal Wedding 1981, No. 27 Leaving St. Paul’s Cathedral, July 29, 1981, Published By The Prescott-Pickup Co. Ltd., Made In England || CC: Joe Haupt via Flickr
Around 75 million people watched the ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral on the BBC on July 29, 1981. The design of the dress was kept undercover until the day of the wedding, which was declared a national holiday in England.
The couple had 27 cakes at their wedding, and they were made by Royal Navy cooking school head baker, David Avery. A single slice of one of the cakes sold at auction in 2014 for $1,375, and it was stored in the original white and silver box. And of course, the Ripley’s exhibit collection wouldn’t be complete without a slice of our own. A fruitcake soaked in brandy, the 37-year-old cake is still exquisitely preserved thanks to its high alcohol content.
Diana’s sister, Sarah, introduced her to Charles.
Before he got engaged to Diana, Charles had a close friendship with her sister, Sarah. Originally, Sarah had been seen as a match for Charles. But during a ski-trip in February 1978, Sarah shut down any rumors of the two as an item, and dashing any future chance she may have had with Charles, when she told journalist, James Whitaker, that she wouldn’t marry Charles “if he were the dustman or the King of England.”
While many sources have claimed that Charles and Sarah had a few sparks of their own, she went on to marry Neil Edmund McCorquodale in 1980. Diana recalls her sister’s mishandling of the press being her downfall—and likely the reason her sister’s status as the number one choice for Charles had fallen. “My sister spoke to the press,” Diana said. “Frankly, that was the end of her.”
Four years after they met, Charles and Diana wed. Sarah remained one of Diana’s closest friends and confidants throughout her lifetime. While the Princess didn’t trust many, she relied on her older sister in times of need. Both Sarah and her other sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, went with Charles to collect Diana’s body from Paris following her death.
Diana’s formal education ended at the age of 16.
Until around the age of nine, Diana was taught by a governess at her home named Gertrude Allen. She then attended a boarding school called Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk until she was 12. Next, Diana went to West Health Girls’ School in Kent, following the footsteps of both of her sisters. Diana stayed at West Health, which is somewhat equivalent to an American high school, until the age of 16.
And though she attended many different schools, Diana did not exactly perform academically at any of them. She wasn’t the best student—in fact, she failed her O-levels twice. (O-levels are standardized tests in Britain that all teenagers must take.) She opted to discontinue her formal education after attending West Health.
In place of a college education, Diana decided to attend a finishing school in Switzerland. She stayed until spring 1978 and then went back to London at the age of 17. Diana attended the Institut Alpin Videmanette, largely as a formality—it didn’t include any academic classes. Instead, the finishing school offered classes on subjects such as sewing and French.
Though it’s worth noting, at the time, it wasn’t uncommon for women in aristocratic circles to focus on etiquette classes instead of academic subjects.
Diana made her money as a housekeeper.
Perhaps the reason why Diana identified so well with people from all social strata was because she could relate to those in the working class. When she left finishing school, she lived with her sister, Sarah, and friend, Lucinda Craig, in London. She supported herself by taking some low-paying gigs. Most people know she worked at a preschool, but she also made money babysitting and housekeeping.
Housekeeping was a skill that carried over into her royal life. Diana commonly cleaned up after attending lunch and dinner parties with her friends. One palace insider commented, “She’d wind up in the kitchen with her hands in the sink and wouldn’t stop until everything had been put away.”
According to the royal biographer, Andrew Morton, Diana felt a “quiet satisfaction” when she cleaned the house or helped friends take care of the dishes. Plus, it was a way to connect her to a “normal” life.
Princess Diana is buried on an island.
Millions of people watched Diana’s public funeral in 1997. Her coffin journeyed from Kensington Palace along Hyde Park to St. James’s Palace and Westminster Abbey in London. What the public didn’t see was her final resting place at her childhood home. Only her sons, William and Harry, Prince Charles, her mother, her siblings, a close friend, and a clergyman were present.
Flowers and tributes left at Kensington Palace soon after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales || CC: Maxwell Hamilton from Greater London, England United Kingdom
Diana was buried in the Spencer estate in Althorp. Specifically, she was laid to rest on a small island in the middle of a lake at the estate. It’s located about 70 miles from London in Northampton and was built in 1508. Diana’s brother Charles took over the estate when their father died in 1992.
Diana’s gravesite is surrounded by a path of 36 trees, which represent the 36 years of her life. A monument was built in tribute to Diana, and there’s a temple for visitors. There are also tablets on either side of the monument documenting Prince Charles’ tribute from her funeral and quotes from Diana that related to her charity work.
Diana picked out her engagement ring from a catalog.
In 1981, Charles gave Diana a catalog featuring items from the crown jeweler, Garrard. She chose a Ceylon sapphire stone with diamonds set in white gold. Interestingly, this ring was a stock item—not rare or one-of-a-kind in any sense. Not everyone was happy with her decision, including some members of the royal family who thought her choice was uninspired. In fact, the ring was available to anyone who had $60,000 to spend.
Rumors surrounding her ring choice vary—she chose that particular ring because it was the largest in the catalog, while others say it resembled her mother’s engagement ring. Either way, Diana liked it so much she even wore it from time to time after divorcing Charles.
Prince William later gifted the ring to his fiancée Kate Middleton. William said it was one way for him to involve his mother in his wedding day. The ring was the world’s most sought-after engagement ring style for over a decade following Diana’s wedding and became popular again after Kate received it from William.
Princess Diana played pranks on her neighbor, Princess Michael.
Princess Diana butt heads quite often with her neighbor, Princess Michael of Kent, resulting in quite a few jokes and pranks. Royal sources in the documentary Princess Diana – The Woman Inside revealed that Diana once received a thong as a gift. At the time they were a popular piece of fitness attire, and Diana came up with a plan to embarrass Princess Michael using the undergarment.
Daily Mail royal correspondent Richard Kay recalled, “Diana rushed out in a very revealing gym kit and surprised Princess Michael as she and a whole bunch of rather stuffy friends were going off to the races.”
Diana and Michael shared quite a contentious relationship. It’s no wonder that Diana liked to retaliate with a prank now and again.
Princess Diana broke the royal “obey” vow to her husband.
Until 1981, all royal wives pledged to obey their husbands amidst their wedding vows. However, this statement was noticeably absent from Charles and Diana’s nuptials. Instead, Diana, who was 20 at the time, controversially opted to omit the phrase when she tied the knot.
Both Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne referenced the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which requires women to promise to “love, cherish and obey” when they get married. In 1986, Sarah Ferguson promised to obey her husband Prince Andrew, and Sophie Rhys-Jones did the same in 1999 when she married Prince Edward.
However, Kate Middleton decided to follow in Diana’s footsteps when she and Prince William walked down the aisle in 2011. She promised to “love, comfort, honor and keep” her husband, omitting the obey phrasing form her vows as well. Perhaps she took a page from Diana’s book in tribute to her husband’s mother.
A true vision of grace and poise, the People’s Princess has left a legacy for all and many lessons in kindness, empathy, and compassion.
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
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Source: The Royally Fascinating Life Of Diana, Princess Of Wales
August 30, 2020
August 29, 2020
August 28, 2020
Wild Tales of Cannibalism from the Animal Kingdom
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Archaeological and genetic evidence continues to tell us much about the human past. Some of it is downright hard to swallow. For example, there’s evidence that cannibalism was practiced for hundreds of thousands of years by Homo sapiens and archaic hominins. Human bones bearing marks consistent with butchering and cooking date back more than 600,000 years. Researchers like Tim D. White suggest ritual cannibalism was a common feature of prehistoric human societies before the Upper Paleolithic.
While Hannibal Lecter liked his liver with a side of “fava beans and a nice chianti,” most human beings have improved their table manners and menus over the millennia. But humans aren’t the only animals with skeletons in the closet. There are plenty of species on Earth who indulge in cannibalism, motivated by factors ranging from starvation to stress. What’s more, some unfortunate species of snake take it to the next level with autocannibalism.
Here’s the lowdown on animal cannibalism and why it’s still a dog-eat-dog world for plenty of Earth’s creatures.
Cannibal Ant Colony
One million cannibal ants trapped in a Soviet-era nuclear bunker? While this sounds like the makings of a B-rated sci-fi flick, think again. This real-life story has been making headlines for several years now.
In July 2015, scientists in western Poland made a grisly discovery. While inspecting a mid-20th-century abandoned nuclear bunker, they stumbled across nearly a million trapped wood ants that had resorted to cannibalism. The colony teemed above ground in the bunker’s ventilation pipe. Unfortunately, over the years, a steady stream of unlucky worker ants had fallen through the pipe, landing in the bunker. Once lost in the grim remains of the shelter, there was no escape or food.
So, the workers adapted, evolving into a queenless “colony” that survived through cannibalism. Scientists discovered that 93 percent of the two million ant corpses inside the bunker had bite marks or puncture holes, indicating cannibalism.
To survive, the worker ants continued their social tasks, even building a makeshift mound from dirt in the bunker. Despite a lack of reproduction, their ranks got regularly repopulated each time a worker “fell through the cracks.” Before leaving the nuclear-weapons bunker, scientists set up a wooden plank to act as a boardwalk, allowing the ants an escape route back above ground. A few months later, the scientists returned, finding all but a few stray ants had made their escape.
The Price Some Mothers Pay
Some insects and arachnids (e.g., praying mantises and black widow spiders) develop a fatal taste for their mates. But for baby hump earwigs, it’s all about their self-sacrificing (literally!) mothers. You see, humps are the only species of earwigs that participate in matriphagy—or consuming their mothers.
Scientists believe hump earwigs resort to this because of the time of year the babies hatch. Mothers reproduce during the colder months. While this leads to lower risks of predation by other animals, it comes with a tradeoff: fewer resources. To maximize the likelihood their babies survive, mothers often allow their offspring to consume them. This survival mechanism delays the dispersal of nymphs from the nest, resulting in higher overall survival rates. Talk about motherly devotion!
Besides hump earwigs, a handful of other bug moms make the ultimate sacrifice. These include arachnids such as crab and desert spiders and pseudoscorpions. The only vertebrate known to participate in this behavior is the caecilian, a group of limbless, serpentine amphibians. Babies feed on their mother’s oviduct lining and later her outer skin. Fortunately, all’s well that ends well. Her skin grows back in a few days.
Cute and Cuddly Cannibals
Although matriphagy can be a thing among insects, arachnids, and caecilians, there are far more instances of voracious moms in the animal world. Particularly among some of the cutest and cuddliest species on the planet.
For example, rabbits may look adorable, but when it comes to raising babies, sometimes hunger gets in the way. Besides a rumbly tummy, rabbit moms will eat their babies at the first sign of trouble. Triggers include a nearby predator, stress, thirst, or temperature drops. Some even eat their babies to keep their nests tidy!
Of course, rabbits have nothing on their smaller cousins, hamsters. Hamster moms have a long list of reasons they eat their young. They include everything from the inability to defend their babies to perceived signs of weakness or disease. And the bloodbath doesn’t stop there.
Adult hamsters also kill and eat one another for various reasons, including territorial disputes. This behavior isn’t relegated to one species, either. Whether we’re talking dwarf hamsters, Robo hamsters, or Syrian hamsters, they’re ALL cannibals.
Metamorphosis into Cannibals
While few of us are surprised by cannibalism in the insect world, it proves less common among vertebrates. Apart from the cute and cuddly ones, that is. Tiger salamanders represent a BIG exception to this rule, however. Not only do they happily eat one another, but some even morph, developing more prominent teeth and a broader head to facilitate their penchant for the unpalatable.
Interestingly, scientists have found that the transformation into a cannibalistic tiger salamander requires a specific environment, namely one where food and other resources prove scarce. No major surprise there. However, researchers have also concluded that growing up among their siblings renders salamanders less likely to transform into cannibalistic amphibians. In other words, preying on non-family members helps salamanders secure a dynasty.
Tastes Like Chicken?
Baby chicks are cute and all, but if you’ve ever raised hens, you know they can be downright cruel. Within each chicken flock, individuals vie for power and prestige. This “fowl” hierarchy promotes strong members of the flock while leaving weaker ones vulnerable to attacks. Hence the term “pecking order.” And if you’ve never had the “pleasure” of being nipped by a chicken, let’s get one thing straight: those beaks are sharp.
Constant pecking leads to torn skin, lost feathers, and drawn blood. It’s not pretty. Unfortunately, under the right circumstances, chickens can take this “pecking order” to the extreme. Scientists still don’t have the complete picture when it comes to why chickens eat chickens. But they’ve identified a long list of triggers. They include:
Limited access to food and water
Overcrowding
High temperatures
Excessive light
Unbalanced diets
Diversity of different types, colors, and sizes of fowl
The presence of diseased or injured birds in the flock
Sudden changes to the environment or management practices
Shortages of nesting boxes
The presence of slow-feathering birds in the flock
The introduction of new birds
No matter the cause, a chicken’s natural inclination to peck can result in outbreaks of cannibalism. If left unchecked, this cannibalism can spread rapidly through whole flocks. The problem is so widespread that cannibalism control is recommended as a part of flock management. Yikes! Of course, the existential question remains. What does chicken taste like to a chicken?
Chimp Warfare and Serial Killers
Famed primatologist and ethologist Dr. Jane Goodall made many fascinating observations while studying wild chimpanzees at Gombe Park in Tanzania. She was the first researcher to document tool-use in chimps, a behavior since noted in other species, including dolphins and crows. She also helped develop conservation strategies to preserve biodiversity.
Unfortunately, Goodall also witnessed intergroup violence between two communities of chimps that she referred to as the “war.” This four-year-long struggle resulted in the annihilation of the smaller group and involved violence, killings, and cannibalism. She also witnessed a mother-daughter chimpanzee duo, named Passion and Pom, who went on a cannibalistic killing spree. All told, the pair killed and ate at least ten baby chimps within their community.
Today, the researchers who have continued Goodall’s work still struggle to understand the motivations behind chimp violence and cannibalism. Rather than anomalies, they’ve witnessed similar behavior carried out by males and females alike. Are such actions related to male dominance or overcrowding? No one knows.
Goodall has reflected, “It is sobering that our new awareness of chimpanzee violence compels us to acknowledge that these ape cousins of ours are even more similar to humans than we thought before.”
Cannibalistic Sharks, In Utero and Beyond
In July 2019, terrifying footage emerged of a cannibalistic great white shark nearly biting a 12-foot-long rival in two. The smaller shark was eating fishing bait near a boat when the big one attacked. The brutal event left the little shark with two massive bites out of its middle. Far from being one rogue individual, cannibalism is an essential part of shark existence. One that starts in the womb.
Sand tiger shark embryos feed on surrounding unfertilized eggs as they grow. In some cases, the largest, strongest embryo dines on its smaller siblings in utero. Scientists hypothesize that the vicious sibling rivalry is part of a paternity struggle, where babies from different fathers fight for survival.
Recent fossil finds further confirm that sharks have been eating each other for at least 300 million years. For example, a study of fossilized feces from the prehistoric shark orthacanthus revealed the presence of baby shark teeth. As Professor Mark Meekan, from the Australian Institute for Marine Science, notes, “Shark on shark predation is a fundamental trait.”
Ravenous Snakes and the Ouroboros Symbol
But there’s one member of the animal world that takes the cake when it comes to cannibalism, snakes. Not only do some species cannibalize each other, but they inadvertently take part in autocannibalism, or the consumption of their own bodies.
How does a snake accidentally eat itself? Simple. By mistaking its tail for prey.
This happens most commonly with king and rat snakes, who prey on other serpents. When this occurs, they end up locked in a life and death battle with themselves. There’s even an ancient Greek word and symbol for this predicament, the ouroboros. While the ouroboros represents the eternal cycle of life and death, snakes that make this mistake usually suffocate.
James B. Murphy of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., once had to stop a shedding king snake from eating itself. It started consuming its dead skin, some of which was still attached to its tail. Somewhere along the line, the snake went from eating the shed to eating itself. Murphy notes, “It continued to swallow its own body tail-first until I intervened.”
Murphy hypothesizes that snakes can become confused by the odor of prey lingering on their scales. This phenomenon proves especially true with constricting snakes. What’s more, snakes who use fast tail wagging (caudal luring) to attract prey can fall victim to autocannibalism. After all, their small brains prove more reactive than proactive and get easily confused.
What can we make of all of this? When it comes to nature, there’s little delineation between peers and prey.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
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Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
150-Pound Runaway Tortoise Makes Daring, Yet Slow, Escape
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[August 24-August 30, 2020] A tortoise on the run, the theft of a corpse confirmed, and a resourceful solution for public urination—all round-up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
A Turtle-y Awesome Adventure
On June 8th, a 150-pound tortoise named Solomon decided he’d had enough of his hum-drum life in Ashland City, Tennessee, and took off on a not-so-whirlwind adventure. The sulcata tortoise ended up taking in the sights until he was found on a construction site only 74 days later—an eighth of a mile away from home. His owner, Lynn Cole, was devastated by his disappearance and started a community-wide search party. Their efforts worked out and they were able to retrieve Solomon, who they’ve had since he was a hatchling 15 years ago. When they arrived, he was covered in mud and well-fed, having snacked on plants during his time on the lam. Cole is currently looking into tracking devices.
A Matter of Life or Death
A 20-year-old Detroit woman was pronounced dead by paramedics, only to be discovered alive by funeral home workers hours later! On Sunday, August 23, Southfield Fire Department paramedics responded to a call for an unresponsive woman. They administered 30 minutes of CPR upon arrival! When she still wasn’t responsive, she was pronounced dead and released the woman’s body to her family, as there was no foul play involved. The family arranged services with James H. Cole Funeral Home, who picked up the body, had begun standard procedures, and were on the road to embalming when they noticed she was alive! Last we heard, the woman’s breathing and heart rate were normal and she was en route to the hospital.
The Ultimate Last Hurrah
It turns out the plotline of Weekend at Bernie’s wasn’t that far fetched at all! This week, actress Drew Barrymore confirmed that the longtime rumor of her grandfather’s body being stolen from the morgue is not only true, but also inspired the film! After his death in 1942, actor John Barrymore’s corpse was stolen by a few friends, including actors W.C. Fields and Errol Flynn, looking to host a going-away party for the late actor! As for Drew, she expects the same kind of send-off from her friends! “That’s the kind of spirit I can get behind. Just prop the old bag up.” Coming from Hollywood royalty with 400 years of acting ancestry, it’s no wonder the family has some crazy stories in their back pocket.
Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock
When You Gotta Go…
When you think of Amsterdam, we’re guessing the first thing that comes to mind probably isn’t public urination. However, “wild peeing” has become such a huge problem for the city that they’ve dedicated eight eco-friendly urinals in hot spots for those who can’t hold it. At first glance, these GreenPees look like your average planter, but when you take a closer look, you’ll see that they are filled with hemp fibers and have a target zone to help with aim. There are now a total of 12 GreenPees throughout the city, so if you’re ever in the area and find yourself searching for a restroom, you’re good to go!
Via GreenPee
Poop Transplants and The Marvel of Modern Medicine
A 47-year-old man had a poop transplant to cure his random bouts of drunkenness. His journey began after a fateful trip to the hospital for intoxication where he tested for 17 times more alcohol in his system than the average person. That’s two times the legal limit! Yet, he hadn’t had anything alcoholic to drink. It turns out it was a raging case of ABS! Scientifically known as auto-brewery syndrome, ABS causes gut fungi and bacteria to ferment contents of the intestines, resulting in alcohol production that causes spontaneous drunkenness. This condition can onset suddenly, as in the case of this anonymous man, who contracted it from taking antibiotics. He was sent home from the hospital with the standard prescription of the antifungal drug amphotericin B and a low carb diet, but to no avail; a month later, the man was ticketed for driving under the influence. This left doctors with only one option: transferring poop into his butt — and not even his own poop. A fecal microbiota transplant is an extreme solution to ABS where fecal matter is transferred into a person’s nose, ear, or butt to introduce healthy bacteria to the person’s system. This man’s case was so severe, he went for this crazy idea — and it worked! It’s been three years since his surgery and the only intoxication he’s experienced has been on his terms!
Source: 150-Pound Runaway Tortoise Makes Daring, Yet Slow, Escape
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