What you’re seeing is not a casting call for Gandhi: The Musical, nor is it a collection of Mahatma Gandhi clones popping out of some strange moustachioed alternate dimension, but rather the making of a world record!

To mark the 64th anniversary of Gandhi’s passing, 485 kids gathered together to celebrate their fallen leader by dressing up like him, complete with glasses, moustache and bald cap, and in doing so set a world record.

I wonder if any of the students who took place in the world record costume party went on to become Groucho Marx impersonators?

Link

Photo: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

Afghan calligrapher Mohammad Sabir Khedri worked for five years to create the world's largest Koran, and man, is it large:

The lavish book has pages 2.28 meters (90 inches) by 1.55 meters (61 inches) in size ... The Afghan Koran weighs 500 kg (1,100 lb) and its 218 pages of cloth and paper, bound inside an embossed leather cover made from the skins of 21 goats, cost half a million dollars to create.

From our pal Dan Piraro of Bizarro, here's a reminder to update the Ten Commandments to include "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's iPad?"

Atlas

If you’re familiar with Greek myths, then you’ll immediately recognize the name of the Titan who was forced to hold up the heavens after angering the Olympians. Even if you didn’t recognize his name from myth though, you certainly recognized the modern use of the term for a group of maps. The connection is logical, but it wasn’t used in the cartography until the sixteenth century.

Image Via Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez [Wikipedia]

Chronological and Chronic

These words may not seem to have much in common definition-wise, but there is a good reason they start with the same root –they are both related to time. Chronology deals with the way events happened over the course of time and chronic describes something that takes place over a long period of time. Wondering where we got these words? Well, they are all related to Chronos, the god of time.

Image Via Jorbasa [Flickr]

Echo

This is one of the more famous Greek stories-turned-words. In the ancient tales, Echo was a mountain nymph who talks excessively with her gorgeous voice. Her voice was so lovely that she would often distract Zeus’ wife Hera with her long and entertaining stories while Zeus would sneak away and make love with the other mountain nymphs. When Hera found out about Echo’s role in her husband’s activities, she punished her by taking away her ability to speak, except in repetition of the words of others.

There are many differing ends to the story, but in all of them, Echo eventually dies in some heartbreaking manner, leaving her voice to haunt the earth, where it can still be heard to this day.

Erotic

This word comes from the Greek character Eros, but you probably know him as his more famous Roman name –Cupid. Eros was the god not only of love, but of sexual desire. As a result, his interventions often cause gods and men to fall in love, often when already married.

Image Via Eric Pouhier [Wikipedia]

Hypnosis

Ever been in a highly-suggestible sleep-like state? Well, you can thank Hypnos for your condition as he was the god of sleep who lived in a dark cave where the sun never penetrates. His home had no doors or gates lest he be awakened by creaking of hinges. Other words have been derived from his Roman name, Somnus, most notably, insomnia.

Image Via McMillan and Gage [Flickr]

Morphine

The famous drug that puts you in a dream-like state actually got its name from Hypnos’ brother, Morpheus (you know, like the guy in the Matrix). Morpheus was the god of dreams and actually had the ability to take human form and appear in people’s dreams.

Narcissism

This might just be the most famous of all the myths on this list. Narcissus was a gorgeous man, half-nymph and half-god, who was so proud of his own looks that he disdained all who dared love him. Eventually, Nemesis (our next word on the list) punished him by luring Narcissus to a pool of water where he could see his own reflection. At this point, there are two endings to the tale, neither of them particularly good. In one version, Narcissus realizes he could never find anyone as attractive as himself, so he finally gives up and kills himself. In the other, Narcissus doesn’t realize it is an image and falls in love with the reflection, refusing to leave its side until he eventually succumbs to hunger.

Nemesis

These days, a nemesis is a rival or enemy, but if Nemesis was against you in ancient Greece, you must have done something bad to anger her. That’s because Nemesis was the god who took revenge against those who showed arrogance before the gods. Long ago, the term was used to simply mean someone who distributed fortune as it was deserved, good or bad. It wasn’t until the 4^th century that the word started to mean someone who felt resentment towards another.

Tantalizing

Next time you’re tantalized by something you can’t have, just think of poor Tantalus and how miserable he must have been. Of course, he kind of brought his punishment upon himself.

Tantalus was a half-god and half-nymph who was invited to dine at Zeus’ table in Olympus. He then stole ambrosia and nectar along with other secrets of the gods and brought them to the mortals. Later on, he offered his own son as a sacrifice to the gods and served him at a banquet. The gods learned of his plan and rebuilt the boy and brought him back to life, disgusted by Tantalus’ plan.

As punishment for his misdeeds, Tantalus was forced to stand in a pool of water below a fruit tree with low-hanging branches. Whenever he would reach down to take a drink, the waters would recede and whenever he reached up to pluck some fruit, the branches would rise up out of his reach. Thus Tantalus spent the rest of eternity being tantalized by water and food that he could never have.

These are, of course, only a handful of the hundreds and hundreds of Greek myths, many of which have played a fascinating role in modern English words –and I didn’t even include any of the Roman versions that have entered our lexicon. Do you guys know of any other Greek or Roman tales that have inspired common English words?

Sources: Your Dictionary, Grose Educational Media, Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9

Pirates and file-sharers, rejoice! The Missionary Church of Kopimism (just say it out loud) has been recognized as a religion in Sweden:

Since 2010 a group of self-confessed pirates have tried to get their beliefs recognized as an official religion in Sweden. After their request was denied several times, the Church of Kopimism – which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols – is now approved by the authorities as an official religion. The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing.

All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there is a large group of people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act.

Philosophy student Isak Gerson is such a religious file-sharer, and in an attempt to protect his unique belief system he founded The Missionary Church of Kopimism in 2010. In the hope that they could help prevent persecution for their beliefs, the Church then filed a request to be officially accepted by the authorities.

After two failed attempts, where the Church was asked to formalize its way of praying or meditation, the authorities finally recognized the organization as an official religion. The Church’s founder is ecstatic about this news, and hopes that it will motivate more people to come forward as ‘Kopimists’.

Can I get "Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Amen?"

Link

This Christmas, give you fellow priests a present they won’t soon forget: a smack to the face with brooms!

That’s what about some priests did while preparing Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity for Orthodox Christmas on January 7:

The outburst, broken up by baton and shield-wielding Palestinian police, came to head as the Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics, who each control a portion of the church along with Roman Catholics got into the scuffle over a ‘turf war.’ The Church of Nativity is believed to be built over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus.

Bethlehem police Lt-Col Khaled al-Tamimi was quoted in Reuters as saying that no one was arrested “because all those involved were men of God” while the BBC reported that the 1,700-year-old church is in bad shape because priests can’t agree on who should be footing the bill for its repair.

Link

Williams did not differ with them on any point of theology. They shared the same faith, all worshiping the God of Calvin, seeing God in every facet of life and seeing man’s purpose as advancing the kingdom of God. But the colony’s leaders, both lay and clergy, firmly believed that the state must prevent error in religion. They believed that the success of the Massachusetts plantation depended upon it.

Williams believed that preventing error in religion was impossible, for it required people to interpret God’s law, and people would inevitably err. He therefore concluded that government must remove itself from anything that touched upon human beings’ relationship with God. A society built on the principles Massachusetts espoused would lead at best to hypocrisy, because forced worship, he wrote, “stincks in God’s nostrils.” At worst, such a society would lead to a foul corruption—not of the state, which was already corrupt, but of the church.

The philosophy Williams developed to deal with the struggle came to be called “the separation of church and state.” And although the concept is a part of what the United States is about, people have argued over what it really means ever since. Smithsonian has an extensive article on Roger Williams and his ideas. Link

From the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, here's a 16th century memento mori rosary carved out of ivory featuring man on one side and skeleton on the other: Link - via The Hairpin

There were almost 4,500 Hasidic rabbis at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries in Brooklyn, and 3,000 of them posed for a photograph together. Not all of them got into the frame, but this is still a big picture! There’s a link to the high-res version at NBC if you want to find someone you know. Link -via Buzzfeed

(Image credit: Tina Fineberg/chabad.org)

Can a Catholic university that's so Catholic that it's actually called Catholic University of America, be too Catholic?

That's what law professor John Banzhaf thought and he's filing a human rights complaint against the school:

A lawyer has filed a human-rights complaint against Catholic University, on the grounds that the prevalence of Catholic imagery there violates the rights of Muslim students. Catholic University admits students of all faiths, but attorney John Banzhaf says there is almost nowhere on campus where Muslims can "pray without having to stare up and be looked down upon by a cross of Jesus."

Link - via The Week

Wait, let me check my calendar. Yup, 2011. So it's surprising to read about a New York public bus line that still forces women to sit in the back.

Here's what happened when Melissa Franchy boarded the B110 bus in Brooklyn and sat down near the front:

For a few minutes she was left in silence, although the other passengers gave her a noticeably wide berth. But as the bus began to fill up, the men told her that she had to get up. Move to the back, they insisted.

They were Orthodox Jews with full beards, sidecurls and long black coats, who told her that she was riding a “private bus” and a “Jewish bus.” When she asked why she had to move, a man scolded her.

“If God makes a rule, you don’t ask ‘Why make the rule?’” he told Franchy, who rode the bus at the invitation of a New York World reporter. She then moved to the back where the other women were sitting. The driver did not intervene in the incident.

The B110 bus travels between Williamsburg and Borough Park in Brooklyn. It is open to the public, and has a route number and tall blue bus stop signs like any other city bus. But the B110 operates according to its own distinct rules. The bus line is run by a private company and serves the Hasidic communities of the two neighborhoods. To avoid physical contact between members of opposite sexes that is prohibited by Hasidic tradition, men sit in the front of the bus and women sit in the back.

Is it gender discrimination or a reasonable approach to accomodate religious rights?

Sasha Chavkin of The New York World reports: Link | Follow up at The New York World and The New York Times

Would you like to get 50% off your car's oil change? All you have to do at the Kwik Kar Lube & Service in Plano, Texas, is recite a Bible verse.

Store owner Charlie Whittington is standing by what he asking customers to do for a deal. “If I’m standing for what I believe, so be it,” he said. “Bring it on.”

The verse is popular for containing the central beliefs of traditional Christianity:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)

Whittington said he did it as a conversation starter in an effort to talk to people about what he believes.

“It’s one thing about America,” he said. “You can go and do what you want. I’m not making you do anything and I’m tired of people making me do something.”

Is it a righteous bargain or religious discrimination? Would you recite a biblical verse even if you're an atheist simply to get the deal?

Link - via The Week

The Ein Prat Fountainheads welcome the High Holidays with a joyful adaptation of Shakira’s World Cup song “Waka Waka”. The lyrics are at the YouTube link. Dip your apple in the honey! Happy Rosh Hashanah! -via The Daily Beast

Friday The Thirteenth

The fear of Friday the thirteenth and the fear of the number thirteen are both so common that they each even have their own psychological names, paraskevidekatiaphobia and triskaidekaphobia, respectively. But who ever decided that one number is unluckier than any other or why it’s particularly bad for the thirteenth day of the month to happen to fall on a Friday? As it turns out, there are a lot of reasons behind the superstitions surrounding the mystical number.

In Christianity, there were thirteen people at the Last Supper, including Judas who has been rumored as being the last person to sit at the table. In Viking lore, Loki was the thirteenth god and in the story of Norna-Gest, when uninvited guests showed up at an infant’s birthday party, bringing the number of guests up to thirteen, the last of the guests cursed the child. Even ancient Persians were weary of the number thirteen because they believed the twelve constellations of the Zodiac would each rule the earth for a thousand years, but after the cycle ended (in the thirteenth millennia), the sky and earth would collapse into chaos.

Interestingly, the fear of Friday the thirteenth is actually a relatively recent development. In fact, historians have found no evidence that anyone ever had talked about “Friday the thirteenth” until the 19^th century and the earliest mention of the evils of the date were seen in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini. Even then, the myth didn’t really get going until the 20^th century, when Thomas W. Lawson’s novel Friday, the Thirteenth became a best seller. After the book became a household name, so did the stories about how unlucky the day was.

In reality, the idea of Friday the thirteenth being unlucky is most likely a result of the fact that both Fridays and the number thirteen are both considered unlucky. Friday has been considered unlucky since at least the 14^th century, as Chaucer mentioned the superstition in The Canterbury Tales. The most likely reason for people to consider Fridays unlikely is that according to scripture, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to imagine that people decided that if Fridays are unlucky and the number thirteen is unlucky, then any time the thirteenth occurs of the Friday, it’s really unlucky.

The fear of Friday the thirteenth is still very common. In fact, around 19 million Americans are affected by a fear of the day and many are so scared that they refuse to leave their house on Friday the thirteenth. Accordingly, the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that businesses lose around $850 million ever time the date rolls around on the calendar.

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2

Images Via W.J.Pilsak [Flickr] and wiccked [Flickr]

Breaking A Mirror Causes Seven Years Bad Luck

When I was a kid, I was told that this superstition came about because in medieval times it would cost an average person seven years to save enough money to buy a mirror. As it turns out, this is bull hockey and the origin of the superstition is a lot more spiritual and a lot older than the one I was told.

The Romans were the first people to create glass mirrors. They also believed that their invention had the potential to steal part of the soul of the person using it. If a person’s reflection were distorted while using a mirror, then their soul would be corrupted and trapped as a result. Fortunately, the Romans believed your soul could be renewed –after seven years time. Until that point though, the person would suffer from bad luck since they did not have a whole, healthy soul to fight off evil.

If a person wanted to shed their bad luck a little sooner, there were a few methods to free your soul including grinding all the pieces of the mirror into a fine dust or burying the pieces under a tree during a full moon. While these options seem a little challenging, they still seem way easier than waiting seven full years to get your soul renewed.

Source

Image Via eeekays photography [Flickr]

Knock On Wood

Here’s one that never made sense to me. After all, how is taping on wood going to prevent you from jinxing yourself? As it turns out, the logic behind the superstition makes a lot of sense when you learn the beliefs of those who originated it.

This expression comes from Pagans, who believed that all living materials were imbued with spiritual properties, including trees. When they were cut down though, the spirit inside the tree would die and become hollow. It was at this point that evil spirits, like sprites, could take over the item and concoct ways to ruin the plans and hopes of people in the area. Fortunately, if someone knocked on the wood, it would drive away the malevolent spirits and prevent any potential misfortunes from occurring.

Source

Image Via Larry He’s So Fine [Flickr]

Black Cats

While most Western cultures consider black cats to be bad luck, many areas of the UK consider them to be a good omen. In fact, it’s likely because the Pagan groups from these areas considered them to be good luck for so long that early Christians started spreading stories of the cats being evil. Specifically, these stories often tied black cats to witches, which makes a lot of sense given that they also accused Pagans of being witches.

Source

Image Via DrL [Wikipedia]

Walking Under A Ladder

This has always seemed like the most rational of the more common superstitions. After all, if you walk under a ladder, you’re pretty likely to have something fall on your head from the top of the ladder. But that’s not the only reason that walking under a ladder is considered to be unlucky.

As it turns out, early Christians felt the triangle was a sacred sign that represented the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When a ladder was pushed against a building, it would form the shape of a triangle, and thus, by walking under it, you were breaking the triangle. This was such a bad thing to do that early Christians would often label anyone who walked under a ladder to be a witch in league with Satan –and that could be even more dangerous than having a hammer fall on your head.

Source

Image Via Alastair Thompson [Flickr]

Throwing Salt Behind Your Shoulder

Most people know that it has historically been considered bad luck to spill salt, largely because it was considered so valuable in olden times. There is also a story that says Judas spilled salt at the Last Supper, making the act even more unlucky. That being said, it seems strange to remedy the bad luck by throwing more precious salt behind your left shoulder. There is a reason for that, though. That’s because in olden times, it was frequently said that the devil was always sitting just behind your left shoulder. When you wasted something as valuable as salt, it was important to keep the devil at bay by either blinding him by throwing salt in his eyes or by placating him by giving him an offering of salt. Whether you’re trying to hurt the devil or buy him off, it seems that throwing salt in his direction is a good way to get him off your back.

Source

Image Via Domiriel [Flickr]

Lucky Rabbit’s Foot

If you’ve ever thought it was a bit gruesome to carry around the foot of a rabbit for good luck, consider the fact that some cultures say the rabbit’s foot is actually the foot of a dead witch who was killed while in her familiar form.

Interestingly, rabbits feet have been a symbol of good luck since at least 600 BC when Celtic people in England would kill rabbits possessing certain attributes that were seen as beneficial to the bearer of the lucky charm. While there is no documented evidence to show one way or another how this tradition got started, some folklorists believe it was started by the pre-Celtic hunter clans who introduced young males to hunting by sending them out to catch a rabbit. On their first successful attempt, one of the rabbit’s hind feet would be removed and awarded to the boy in a ceremony that celebrated his journey into manhood.

Source

Image Via Sobebunny [Wikipedia]

Do you believe in any superstitions? If so, were they included here? I know plenty of our readers are from other countries, so if your culture has some interesting myths you know Americans have never heard of, I know I’m not the only one who would love to hear what you have to share.

Previously at Neatorama: Seven Strange Lucky Charms

We’ve all heard of underground societies, but rarely is the term used in such a literal manner as these amazing underground cities featured on Dornob.

Cities, empires and religions have risen and fallen around these unique underground havens once used by early Christians to hide from Roman armies, yet they remains occupied to this day – 100 square miles with 200+ underground villages and tunnel towns complete with hidden passages, secret rooms and ancient temples and a remarkably storied history of each new civilization building on the work of the last.

Read more about these amazing homes and enjoy the stunning pictures at the link.

Link

What will Catholics eat today in honor of the saint’s feast day? Some traditions call for cold cuts and other uncooked foods, in pious avoidance of anything that would too closely resemble Lawrence’s burned flesh.

But others go the opposite direction, celebrating the manner of his death with a barbecue. As Evelyn Vitz, author of A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family & Faith throughout the Christian Year explains on her blog, “We decided that serving barbecued chicken is a great way to signify his triumph over the fire.” A contributor at the Catholic Cuisine blog interprets the theme another way, with cupcakes decorated to look like grills, complete with little shish kebabs made of frosting.

Smithsonian has the story, and a list of other saints connected with cooking. Link

Pastor Joe Nelms offered this prayer before the Nascar Nationwide series race in Nashville last Saturday. Boogity boogity! -Thanks, Bill!

When you get your photo for your driver’s license taken you are not allowed to wear a hat or head covering unless it is for religious or medical reasons. One Austrian follower of the satirical Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster won the right to wear a pasta strainer on his head on religious grounds for his driver’s license.

Pastafarian Niko Alm, follower of the One True Flying Spaghetti Monster, won the right to appear in his driving-license photo with a pasta strainer on his head after it was formally recognized by Austrian authorities as “religious headgear.”

Link

I know a lot of people don’t believe in ghosts, but for those who do believe (or are undecided about their existence), this great Oddee article features 10 ghost pictures and recordings that are certain to be accepted by the believers and debated by the skeptics. What do you guys think? Are ghosts fact or fiction?

Link

A 65-meter high minaret stands in Afghanistan, built around 1190 CE. It is covered with religious carvings and calligraphy in more than one language. But this ancient and remote edifice is surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountains in a country at war, so these pictures will be the closest you get to it -for now.

Amazingly, this imposing structure was standing forgotten for centuries… until rediscovered in 1886 by Sir Thomas Holdich; then forgotten again and rediscovered in 1957. Then the Soviet invasion in 1979 again prohibited access to the area, and since then only a handful of people from outside of Afghanistan have seen the minaret, because of its middle-of-nowhere location

Read more about the Minaret of Jam and the ancient multicultural city that once surrounded it. You’ll also see lots more pictures at Dark Roasted Blend. Link

A new exhibition in London’s Mica Gallery will feature contemporary Egyptian art, much of which depicts themes and imagery from the Arab revolution. The exhibit includes graffiti from the streets of Cairo re-created on a gallery wall and a mummified man wrapped in pages from the Qur’an. Read more about this exhibition at the Guardian link.

Link

It seems to be a universal truth that a thing reviled is also a thing revered, depending on location. While rats are an annoyance and a pest (as well as known harbingers of disease) in most of the world, they are sacred inhabitants of the Hindu temple of Karni Mata in India. Accidentally killing one of these holy rodents brings a hefty fine of replacing the rat with one made of gold, while having one skit over your feet is a blessing.

The story of Kari Mata, revered as an incarnation of the goddess Durga, the rats, and lots more pics of the temple are on The Ark in Space. Link

Image: owenstache

I can’t imagine living in a city where every paintable surface is the same color, even this lovely blue. But that’s how they roll in Chefchaoen, Morocco; the city’s buildings, walls, stairs, railings, flowerpots, doors–everything, all blue. Founded in 1471, the entire city was painted with tekhelel, a natural dye made of shellfish.

In the bible, Israelites are commanded to use this dye to color one of the threads of their prayer shawl.

Though tekhelel is no longer available and the city’s population of Jews has diminished, the tradition has carried on through the centuries. Blue pigment is sold in pots and bags throughout the city, and residents faithfully refresh the paint on their homes, flower pots, balcony railings, doors and practically everywhere else in the community. Even the interiors of many of these buildings are painted blue.

The pigments may vary in color now, ranging from periwinkle to aqua, but the effect is no less spectacular, providing a monochromatic stage from which every other color dazzles, particularly the merchandise hung on walls outside of markets and shops.

It’s pretty and I understand the symbolism, but I think I’d go with a clean white wall inside–or anything but blue, actually.

via WebUrbanist

Karl Stefanovic, an Australian newscaster, got a chance to sit down and talk with the Dalai Lama. Naturally, he took the opportunity to tell the Dalai Lama a Buddhism joke. At least, Buddhism as it is popularly understood in the West — your own theological mileage may vary. Watch and see how well it went over.

via reddit

She was the daughter of the god and goddess Anguta and Isarrataitsoq and, like countless female figures in Inuit myths, she refused all prospective husbands. Sedna instead had sexual relations with dogs and the “freakish” offspring of these unions were said to be white people and Native American tribes that the Inuit were often at war with. A ghoulish twist to the story is how Sedna took to using her parents as food (a recurring theme in Inuit myths because of the scarcity of food in the frozen north at times and how instances of cannibalism during such famines were much-discussed). Sedna devoured both of her mother Isarrataitsoq’s arms and had finished eating one of her father’s arms before he was able to subdue her and take her out to sea in his canoe, intent on banishing her to the sea. Continuing to struggle, Sedna clutched the sides of the canoe as her father tried to submerge her, prompting him to take his long knife and cut off her fingers. Since, to the Inuit, loss or mutilation of the hands was often seen as a horrific transformation into something new, the myth states that Sedna now embraced her fate, transforming her now-fingerless hands into flippers and transforming her severed digits into the various species of sea animals.

Read more about Sedna and eleven other Inuit deities at Balladeer’s Blog. Link

The Pyramids Weren’t Built By Slaves

If you learned one thing about Egypt in school, it was that the pyramids are marvels of ancient technology…and that they were built by slaves. There are movies based around slaves working on the pyramids and every one has seen at least half a dozen pictures of the poor workers straining under the hot sun as their cruel masters wait, whip in hand, for someone to slack off.

But working on the pyramids might not have been so bad after all. While it was still hard work to construct the massive monuments, recent research has shown that the workers were more likely skilled masons who had the right to leave whenever they wanted. Evidence to back this claim is supported in the fact that the workers had their own tombs right beside the pyramids. Egyptologists point out that someone that low on the social ladder would never have been buried so close to the pharaohs.

Image via anniemarieangelo [Flickr]

Everything You Knew About Dinosaurs Is Wrong

Ok, maybe not everything you learned about dinos back in school was wrong, but a lot of it sure was. For one thing, there is no brontosaurus. Yeah, that giant lumbering monster we all learned about in grade school was actually an apatosaurus with the head of a camarasaurus. The worst thing about this inaccuracy is that it was discovered over a century ago, but up until recently, everyone (including a lot of elementary school teachers) still insisted on calling apatosauruses brontosauruses.

I guess one mislabeled dino isn’t that big of a deal…but the incorrect visual representation of just about every dinosaur imaginable is. By now, you’ve probably heard that many dinosaurs probably had feathers, a huge change for those of us who grew up thinking about giant lizards roaming the prehistoric plains. But even those that probably didn’t look like giant birds still looked way cooler and more versatile than the oversized iguanas popularly imagined. These days, we even know what color some dinosaurs were, and they are a far call from the multitude of green shades we once imagined. If you really want to know just how different dinosaurs were compared to what we were taught, check out this great article on Listverse, about the Top 10 Dinosaurs That Aren’t What They Were.

Image via Geoff S. [Flickr]

Arsenic Is One of the Building Blocks of Life

If you learned chemistry or biology in high school, you were probably taught that there are six chemical elements known as the “building blocks of life.” They are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus.  These components make up the chemical composition of DNA and without them, life isn’t possible…or at least, we thought it wasn’t possible.

Last year, scientists discovered a bacteria species living in a salt lake in California that was missing one of the building blocks of life, phosphorus, and instead had arsenic in its place. For some people, this might not seem like such a huge deal, particularly considering that arsenic is very close to phosphorus in its physical and chemical properties, but it’s a huge deal to scientists who suddenly saw a massive expansion in the scope of potential living things. It really makes a difference in intergalactic research, since the discovery opens up whole new planets as potential life-supporting ecosystems.

Image via Artful Magpie [Flickr]

Humans Aren’t Really All That Special

Maybe this wasn’t the case for all of you, but when I was in school, the teachers seemed overly fascinated with telling us how much better humans are than other animals. They’d tell the class, “we’re the only animals who have complex emotions,” “no other animal is self-aware like we are,” “humans are the only creatures who use tools,” “we are the only species to communicate through complex language,” etc. I don’t know why they felt our fragile homo sapien egos were so threatened by other creatures, but I always thought that was a little strange. As it turns out, it was completely incorrect too.

Recent studies show that elephants mourn the loss of their companions and many animals, particularly dogs (who have evolved in the companionship of humans), have far more complex emotions than scientists had ever imagined. And chimps don’t just have emotions; they also are self-aware enough to understand how their own actions will affect those around them.

Well, we still have our intelligence to set us apart from the beasts right? Not so quick you homo sapien- supremacists. Actually, there are a lot of intelligent animals out there, many of which use tools and converse amongst themselves. Chimps have used spears to hunt for thousands of years, octopuses use coconut shells as both camouflage and as protection, and dolphins use sponges to help uncover fish that are hiding in the sand.

As for language, bees have an incredibly complex language system allowing them to communicate what type of flower is located in a given place and how to get to that location. Monkeys not only communicate with one another vocally, but they even understand grammar rules. In fact, in some ways, animals are actually ahead of us in the language game. While humans cannot yet speak the language of any other animals, primates can be taught sign language so they can communicate with us in our own language.

Image via Mundoo [Flickr]

If this crushed your memories of grade school, I’m sorry, but now it’s your turn to get revenge. What have you learned isn’t true even though they told you it was a “fact” back in school?

The new date? October 21. So mark that on your calendar for the next End of the World Party (I’ll bring chips):

Harold Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before catastrophe struck the planet, apologized Monday evening for not having the dates "worked out as accurately as I could have."

He spoke to the media at the Oakland headquarters of his Family Radio International, which spent millions of dollars_ some of it from donations made by followers — on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.
It was not the first time Camping was forced to explain when his prediction didn’t come to pass. The 89-year-old retired civil engineer also prophesied the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said later that didn’t happen then because of a mathematical error.

Through chatting with a friend over what he acknowledged was a very difficult weekend, it dawned on him that instead of the biblical Rapture in which the faithful would be swept up to the heavens, May 21 had instead been a "spiritual" Judgment Day, which places the entire world under Christ’s judgment, he said.

The globe will be completely destroyed in five months, he said, when the apocalypse comes. But because God’s judgment and salvation were completed on Saturday, there’s no point in continuing to warn people about it, so his network will now just play Christian music and programs until the final end on Oct. 21.

Link | And if that doesn’t work out, there’s always 2012!

On another note, the failed doomsday prediction is fun and games for most of us, but has deadly consequences to a few others.

Just because Armageddon is happening Saturday as foretold by Family
Radio Worldwide’s Harold Camping doesn’t mean you have to give up the
love of your pets. One group is offering services to take care of your
furry loved ones while you are in Heaven. You can make arrangements to
have your pet cared for at the link.

You’ve committed your life to Jesus. You know you’re saved.  But when
the Rapture comes what’s to become of your loving pets who are left
behind? Eternal Earth-Bound Pets takes that burden off your mind.

Link

"According to the Bible, Paul the Apostle was a military commander at first and an evil persecutor of Christians before he started spreading the Christian gospel," the sect’s founder, who styles herself Mother Fotina, said.

"In his days in the KGB, Putin also did some rather unrighteous things. But once he became president, he was imbued with the Holy Spirit, and just like the apostle, he started wisely leading his flock. It is hard for him now but he is fulfilling his heroic deed as an apostle."

Link (Photo: Ria Novosti)

The End of the World has been foretold time and time again, but this time it’s for real. Well, according to Brian Haubert and a small group of true believers, anyway. They claimed that hidden in the Bible are some clues that the world will end May 21, 2011.

NPR’s Weekend Edition takes a peek inside the Judgment Day movement (and the radio show behind the latest J-date):

"I’ve crunched the numbers, and it’s going to happen," he says.

Haubert says the Bible contains coded "proofs" that reveal the timing. For example, he says, from the time of Noah’s flood to May 21, 2011, is exactly 7,000 years. Revelations like this have changed his life.

"I no longer think about 401(k)s and retirement," he says. "I’m not stressed about losing my job, which a lot of other people are in this economy. I’m just a lot less stressed, and in a way I’m more carefree."

He’s tried to warn his friends and family. They think he’s crazy. And that saddens him.

"Oh, it’s very hard," he says. "I worry about friends and family and loved ones. But I guess more recently, I’m just really looking forward to it."

Haubert is 33 and single. Brown is married with several young children, and none of them shares his beliefs. It’s caused a rift with his wife — but he says that, too, was predicted in the Bible.

"God says, ‘Do you love husband or wife over me? Do you love son or daughter over me?’ There is a test. There is a trial here that the believers are going through. It’s a fiery trial."

As May 21 nears, Brown says he feels as if he’s on a "roller coaster." What if he is raptured but his family is left behind?

"I’m crying over my loved ones one minute; I’m elated the next minute," he says. "It’s all over the place."

Link

In line with many previous studies, it found no difference between the ethical behavior of believers and nonbelievers. But those who believed in a loving, compassionate God were more likely to cheat than those who believed in an angry, punitive God.

"The take-home message is not whether you believe in God, but what God you believe in," said Azim Shariff, a psychologist at the University of Oregon. Shariff conducted the study with psychologist Ara Norenzayan, who had been his doctoral advisor at the University of British Columbia.

Doesn’t this remind you of the age-old joke of "I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness."

Link

Some Chinese legends say that hell, or diyu, is an unground maze with 18 levels and various chambers in which one must pay for the sins of their life. Wouldn’t that make a great video game? They are quite frightening- there’s the chamber of tongue ripping (shown), the chamber of steamer, the mountain of knives, the cauldron of boiling oil, and more. See each level illustrated at China Underground. Link -Thanks, CinaOggi!

There is a cave on the side of the side Gellert Hill near Budapest, Hungary, in which it is said that a monk, possibly St. Istvan, lived his life. It later became a place of worship run by the Pauline monks. In 1951, the communist government arrested the monks and sealed the cave with a wall of concrete. The wall was torn down in 1989, and once more the cave is used as a church. Read more about it at Atlas Obscura. Link

Jessica, 16, told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show that a week before spring break, the students commit to a week-long community service project. She decided to volunteer in a third grade class at a public school, which she would like to remain nameless.

“At the end of the week I had an idea to fill little plastic eggs with treats and jelly beans and other candy, but I was kind of unsure how the teacher would feel about that,” Jessica said.

She was concerned how the teacher might react to the eggs after of a meeting earlier in the week where she learned about “their abstract behavior rules.”

“I went to the teacher to get her approval and she wanted to ask the administration to see if it was okay,” Jessica explained. “She said that I could do it as long as I called this treat ‘spring spheres.’ I couldn’t call them Easter eggs.”

The School District said that it was done to comply with their “Religion and Religious Accommodation” policy, where “no religious belief or non-belief should be promoted by the School District or its employees, and none should be disparaged.” (Update 4/19/11 – The School District didn’t say it was done to comply with their policy. That was my mistake – they did put a statement pointing to their Religion and Religious Accommodation policy – Thanks Joe Mondo!).

A+ for political correctness, but what grade do you think the school should get for common sense? Link

A blood-curdling scream echoes through the Roman Catholic chapel in Manila as Father Jose Francisco Syquia says a prayer of exorcism over a Satanic cult member believed to be possessed by the devil.

"It’s very painful," the woman cries in an unearthly voice, her body contorting in an attempt to break free from the tight grasp of Syquia’s assistants. After a few minutes she falls silent, her limp body exhausted.

The case is among hundreds documented on video and kept by Syquia, who heads the Manila Archdiocese’s Office of Exorcism — the only one that exists in the Catholic nation of 94 million people.

"She would have levitated had she not been restrained," Syquia said of the woman in the video, portions of which were shown to AFP during a rare interview at his office in the basement of a seminary in Manila.

Syquia believes he is in the frontline of the battle between good and evil on earth.
"There is a great dramatic increase of possessions right now," said the 44-year-old priest. "More and more the demons are gaining a foothold into this society."

Link

Researchers from the Northwestern University noticed there’s something strange about religion: it’s making people fatter.

We don’t recall any of the commandments saying "thou shall eat chocolate cake," but an unusual new study has found that people who regularly attend religious activities are 50 percent more likely to battle obesity by middle age.

God only knows why. The scientists sure don’t.

"We don’t know why frequent religious participation is associated with development of obesity," said Matthew Feinstein, the study’s lead investigator and a fourth-year student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "It’s possible that getting together once a week and associating good works and happiness with eating unhealthy foods could lead to the development of habits that are associated with greater body weight and obesity."

The study tracked nearly 2,500 men and women over 18 years. They filtered for age, race, sex, education, income and baseline body mass index. The last one’s important, because it shows that the religious were getting fatter, not that fat people were getting religious.

Link

See also: Dear Lord, If You Can’t Make Me Skinny, Please Make My Friends Fat!

When I was working on my geeky cross stitch article, I happened to come across this amazing piece, but I couldn’t include it because it just wasn’t nerdy. Even so, I thought that you guys would appreciate this stunning rendition of the Sistine Chapel done in cross stitch. There’s more detail at the link.

Link via Craftzine

“The idea came to me a couple years ago, and it didn’t really make sense then, my wife quickly pointed out,” said Wilson, 38, adding that he worked 13 hours a day in a restaurant back then. “I did not live the life of a monk at that time.”

But with preparations that began in August, including bulking up from his normal 140 pounds to 160 since Thanksgiving, Wilson says he was ready to give it a go. He says he already was down to 157 pounds by Thursday.

Wilson is limiting himself to four 12-ounce beers a day, and says he will consult with a doctor. Link

What’s on the agenda for his next billboard?

Robbins said he is planning to post another controversial message about sex within the next few months.

I guess we will have to wait and see if the next billboard lives up to the hype.

Link

Kamoho was the brother of the fire goddess Pele and was considered the guardian god of the Hawaiian Islands. He alone of all Pele’s relatives tried to aid her when she was seeking to avoid her marriage to the boar god Kamapua’a. Kamoho also ruled over the shark-men, or “were-sharks” as I call them. These beings were greedy humans cursed by Kamoho to periodically transform into sharks. They could be recognized by the large shark tattoos that Kamoho branded onto their backs.

Read about the other ten at Balladeer’s Blog. Link -Thanks, Ed!

In 1998, after flirting with death, folk artist Stephen Huneck decided to "build a chapel, one that celebrated the spiritual bond we have with our dogs, and that would be open to dogs and people. People of any faith or belief system."

The result? The Dog Chapel, as described in this intriguing Atlas Obscura post: Link

Ancient Vikings lit funeral pyres to honor their dead, and it is accepted practice among Buddhist and Hindu religions. But the practice is largely taboo in the U.S.

The pyre harkens to references in the Christian and Hebrew Bibles equating rising smoke with the ascent of the soul, said David Weddle, a religion professor at Colorado College. It can be seen as honoring a natural cycle, reducing the body to ash and the elements of which it is composed. It also can be a protest against traditional funerals, which some view as a denial of death, Weddle said.[...]

It takes up to four and a half hours for a body to burn completely. Since there’s no way of separating human ashes from those of the wood the family receives about five gallons of ashes.

Link via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: AP/Ivan Morelo

Robert Rowthorn, an emeritus professor of economics, likened religion as a gene (after all, you are most likely to "inherit" your parents’ religion) and came to an interesting conclusion:

Rowthorn’s model shows that, even when the religious defection rate is high, the overall high fertility rate of religious people will cause the religiosity allele to eventually predominate the global society. The model shows that the wide gap in fertility rates could have a significant genetic effect in just a few generations. The model predicts that the religious fraction of the population will eventually stabilize at less than 100%, and there will remain a possibly large percentage of secular individuals. But nearly all of the secular population will still carry the religious allele, since high defection rates will spread the religious allele to secular society when defectors have children with a secular partner. Overall, nearly all of the population will have a genetic predisposition toward religion, although some or many of these individuals will lead secular lives, Rowthorn concluded.

Link

The Breatharians

Was your New Year’s resolution to lose weight? Then you might want to try joining The Breatharians, a group that claims that they do not need to ingest food or water but merely live off of air and the sun’s energy or what they call “prana” to live. Wiley Brooks (pictured) is the founder of the Breatharian Institute of America where he claims he can teach YOU how to practice Breatharianism. On his website he also states that for a mere $10,000 he will also give you an Immortality Workshop! As a special bonus “The workshop includes a visit to Earth Prime in the 5th Dimension.” Sweet deal! That’s almost as good as when I get a coupon for a free drink at Soup Plantation! However, Wiley needs to put his breath where his mouth is as he was once caught coming out of a 7- Eleven with a Slurpee, a hot dog and Twinkies.

Another prominent Breatharian, Jasmuheen, AKA Australian Ellen Greve, has been linked to the deaths of several followers who read her publications on Breatharianism and tried it for themselves. An Australian version of 60 Minutes challenged Jasmuheen to prove her claims by not eating or drinking while being observed by medical professionals. The experiment had to be stopped after four days as doctors reported she was showing signs of dehydration and at risk for kidney failure. (Watch a segment here where she maintains she doesn’t need food while about to pass out.) I would totally join a cult like this, but I’m too lazy and I love pizza.

Children of God

A lot of law enforcement agencies get up in arms over cults, but they need to just step back and see how fulfilling they can be! Hey, this is America; if you want to join a cult that makes you cover yourself in feces and get castrated well that’s just great –go right ahead. We just ask one thing, that you don’t harm the children –leave them out of it. Alas, this is one area that a lot of cults can’t resist…  they have to get some of that child love going on. Which brings us to The Children of God. Led by “prophet” David Berg AKA Moses David, the group arose out of the 1960’s hippie counter culture movement. Here’s the odd part: Berg instructed female members of his flock to go out and perform “Flirty Fishing” whereby they would have sex with random men in order to attract them to the group. What could possibly go wrong? The cult openly called women who did this “God’s Whores” and “Hookers for Jesus.” Some women who got pregnant from Flirty Fishing had what they termed Jesus Babies.

Here’s the bad part: In addition to Flirty Fishing, sexually promiscuous activities with underage members led to numerous accusations of child abuse against the group. After the death of Berg the group eventually changed their name to The Family International and in the 1990’s established a “zero tolerance policy” regarding sex with minors. In a statement the group said: “Due to the fact that our current zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual interaction between adults and underage minors was not clearly stated in our literature published before 1986, we came to the realization that during a transitional stage of our movement, from 1978 until 1986, there were cases when some minors were subject to sexually inappropriate advances…”

Well that makes sense; you have to make sure it’s in writing so everyone is up to speed on the whole sex with kids thing being taboo! Every group I’m a part of I go out of my way to put that clause in the rule book; from my golf league and bake sale fund raising club to movie night with the guys- you got to have “no sex with children” in the bylaws. Duh!

The Ant Farm Pyramid Scheme

Would you love to start your own cult but aren’t particularly versed in bible passages enough to pass yourself off as the new messiah? Then you might be interested in a good old fashioned pyramid scheme. A good pyramid scheme has the bare essentials of a religious cult without all the Jesus stuff. The scheme starts with brainwashing its members into pledging allegiance to the organization as a whole and the methods by which they make what everyone wants: cold hard cash. Preying on the weak willed, down trodden, or just plain down on their luck is a staple of these non-religious cults. Perfect for today’s economy! This is where the “Ant Farm” Pyramid Scheme comes into play.

Over an eight year period, the Yilishen Tianxi Group of China convinced hardworking families in their nation to invest about $1300 in starting their own an ant farm. Once delivered, investors had to feed and care for the ants for only 90 days- the average life expectancy of an ant. At that point someone from the company would stop by to pick up the dead ant farm and take the belly up ants to be ground into health products (apparently the Chinese use ant based products as aphrodisiacs and arthritis medication).

For their effort, the ant farmers were promised $447 after 14 months and a 32 percent rate of return each year. All sounded good but the company started using new investments as profit when the economy went south thus becoming a giant pyramid scheme which bilked a reported one million struggling Chinese out of their hard earned yaun. The communist government refused to help the victims of the scheme who now just have a bunch of dead ants on their hands and nothing to show for it. Sucks for the poor people who fell for this, but you have to give props to the Yuilishen Tianxi Group- after all, having your own cult is like having your own human ant farm. It’s fun to watch it grow and work together, but there is that temptation to smash the glass and squish them all beneath your boots.

Cargo Cults

Cargo Cults aren’t traditional “cults” in the sense they arose from odd interpretations of modern, “mainstream” theology. Rather, cargo cults arose amongst tribes on isolated islands of the South Pacific during and after World War II.

Their first encounter with technologically advanced society occurred when large numbers of soldiers, weapons, and manufactured goods (cargo) were shipped and later air dropped to the islands. Essentially if you ever wondered what would happen if we went back in time and showed our ancestors an airplane or a machine gun, this is it! (Think when Doc Brown tries to explain cars to the saloon patrons in Back to the Future #3.) The natives believed that the soldiers were able to attract the cargo planes which gave them all of their cool stuff… which must have been created by the gods. Thus the islanders began mimicking the day to day activities of the American soldiers stationed there, wearing mock uniforms, building crude landing strips, and marching around with faux wooden guns in an effort to attract more of the cargo planes. They reasoned they, too, could have canned food, guns, and radios if they only figured out the correct way to attract them. They even built planes and control towers out of bamboo! “If you build it they will come.” When the aliens come and blow our minds with their space ships and magic-like technology, do you think we will react the same way? I’m getting my bamboo flying saucer ready now.  Check out more on Cargo Cults in this fascinating clip.

The Hollywood Star Whackers

Cousin Eddie aka Randy Quaid and his wife Evi Quaid think Heath Ledger was murdered. The duo claim that there is an organized effort they call the “Hollywood Star Whackers” aimed at killing celebrities (even the likes of at best B-celebrity Quaid) to take their assets. “Hollywood is murdering its movie stars for ad sales. … We want asylum from the murderous people in Hollywood. Accountants and lawyers embezzlers,” Evi Quaid said in a statement. Having been arrested this past September for illegally squatting on a property they previously owned, the couple is now seeking refugee asylum status in Canada for fear they might be next on the Whacker’s hit list.

Psychologists have weighed in and it appears Evi Quaid’s delusions have taken root with her husband Randy- which doesn’t sound so far-fetched if you think of it in terms that they are starting their own mini cult.  They just haven’t gotten around to recruiting more members yet! Which I think is brilliant; can’t find someone else crazy enough for you? Then start your own cult! I think it would be awesome if another washed up celebrity decided to join them. Pauly Shore could get some much needed attention if he showed up at Randy and Evi Quaid’s undisclosed location and was all like “I believe you. The Star Whackers are trying to kill me too! Please hide me!” Together they could begin recruiting other past-their-prime celebs who “need protection.” Get together Fred Durst, MC Hammer, and Gary Busey, pool their limited financial resources, and build an armored compound stockpiled with weapons to keep those Hollywood Star Whackers at bay! Let’s just hope for the Quaids that this doesn’t end in a self-fulfilling prophecy of getting themselves star whacked.

Remember the Jabba The Hutt Serenity Prayer cross stitch we featured a while back? Well, Emily and Matt Fitzpatrick of Steotch have the second in the series, this time featuring Picard/Locutus from Star Trek: Link

(Image credit: Flickr user sweart)

Packing for the hereafter just got easier. According to a Chinese tradition, when a person dies, mourners should burn replicas of household items so the deceased can enjoy these in the afterlife. The hope is that if the dead are appeased with burnt offerings, their ghosts will refrain from haunting the living. But like many traditions, this one has evolved to reflect the times. Today, it’s not uncommon to see mourners burning paper replicas of cars, laptops, credit cards, iPods, Louis Vuitton handbags, or even bottles of Viagra!

SPINNING INTO CONTROL

(Image credit: Flickr user Anton Kan)

For members of the Sufi Mawlawi order, pondering the nature of life can literally make your head spin. As part of the Sema ceremony, these “Whirling” Dervishes meditate by twirling in circles, an act that’s meant to bring them closer to Allah. But don’t mistake the spinning for carefree fun. In order to perform the centuries-old ritual, each dancer must undergo 1,001 days of training in seclusion during which they study music, poetry, and Sufi prayers. The clothing is also distinct; participants wear white gowns that flare out like poodle skirts, and they can twirl in ecstasy for hours.

HOLY SMOKE

(Image credit: Flickr user equisdé)

Every year during the Feast of St. Joseph, the Gothic town of Valencia, Spain lights up with bonfires and fills with billows of smoke. It’s all part of Las Fallas, a five-day festival in March that ends with revelers setting fire to hundreds of enormous papier-mâché sculptures. The elaborate falla figures can be more than 50 feet tall and can cost as much as $75,000 to build. But the people don’t mind charring all the fruits of that labor. Many of the sculptures depict unpopular politicians and celebrities, and burning them is a sort of public catharsis.

THE WINDOW TREATMENT

(Reuters link)

The people of Solapur, India drop babies like they’re hot. Every year for the past 500 years, a priest has stood on top of the shrine and dropped infants -hundreds of them- onto a white sheet 50 feet below. Friends and family members hold onto the blanket with the hope that the ritual will bring good luck and good health. The babies are all under age 2, and according to event organizers, not one has ever been hurt. Perhaps more amazing is that fact that the tradition crosses religious lines; Muslims and Hindus alike participate in the ceremony.

BUILT LIKE BRICK CHURCH-HOUSE

(YouTube link)

On the Greek island of Chios, two rival Orthodox churches in the small town of Vrontados celebrate Easter Sunday by lighting up the sky with fireworks and bombarding each other’s church bells with colorful rockets.

The islanders, who find beauty in the vibrant warfare, prepare for the event by boarding up church windows and covering the cathedrals in protective wire mesh. Then, on Easter night, congregants pack into their respective churches to attend Mass -which is usually rendered inaudible by the sound of fireworks. But when the church bells strike at midnight, the friendly fire halts. Keeping the tradition alive means that the people of Vrontados occasionally risk injury to wayward firecrackers. Still, local are proud of the tourist-attracting tradition and are hesitant to curb the festivities.

COCONUT BLISS

(Image credit: Flickr user no focus)

Being hardheaded isn’t often a compliment, but might but a prerequisite for religious devotion in southern India. Once a year, priests at the Veerapathiran Samy temple, located in the state of Tamil Nadu, break open thousands of coconuts by smashing them on devotee’s heads. Participants (who are required to be 18 or older) willingly offer their skulls as a way to thank the Hindu goddess Lakshmi for their good fortunes. The ceremony isn’t always successful, though. Those who get injured by the hard-shelled fruit are often told they are being punished by the gods for not being devout enough. Still, priests claim that t and far between, and the ceremony draws thousands of headstrong participants each year.

FREE FALLIN’

(Image credit: Flickr user whl.travel)

Anyone whose ever strapped a rope to their ankle and jumped off a bridge owes a debt to the people of Pentecost Island, the birthplace of bungee jumping. Between April and June, young men tie vines to their ankles and dive headfirst off a 75-foot tower, as crowds dance and sing below. And while the strength of the tether is vital to this South Pacific coming-of-age ceremony, it’s the length that’s more important. The vines are carefully measured so that the young man’s heads graze the ground -0an act that supposedly blesses the soil for the upcoming yam season. But the system isn’t perfect, and casualties abound. In fact, it’s traditional for divers to relay their affections to loved ones the day before jumping.

__________________________

The article by Chellis Ying is reprinted from Scatterbrained section of the May- June 2010 issue of mental_floss magazine.

Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!

That’s what the management of the United Commercial Bank in Shani Shinganapur, Maharashtra, India, thought when they opened the first lockless bank:

"We took note of the general belief and faith of the people. Ever since the most revered temple came into existence several years ago, the village has not witnessed a single crime. In fact, all houses in the entire village have no doors. We took the risk and started the lockless bank a week ago," a senior bank official said. [...]

Gadakh explained that, by and large, it is believed that because of Lord Shani’s power, the village has not witnessed a single theft or robbery in the recent past. "People here fear that if there is a theft or robbery, then the culprit and their family have to bear the wrath of Lord Shani," he said.

Meanwhile, the cops aren’t too happy:

… unhappy local cops said the branch has been started in violation of norms prescribed by the Centre. "In view of increasing bank robberies, the Centre has made it mandatory for all banks to provide state-of-the-art security. If a bank opens a lockless branch, it amounts to a breach of conditions. We will take it up with the DGP and RBI," a senior police official said.

Link

She even admits to using Jedi mind tricks during interviews with suspects in ‘an effort to achieve the truth’, although she tells industry magazine Police Review that she does not use ‘The Force’ to influence what suspects say or do.

Jedi mind tricks are used in the Star Wars movies by characters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker to ‘influence the minds of weak-minded sentient beings’ to get them to do what you want them to do.

PC Fleming, who is one of ten police workers – eight of them officers – at Strathclyde Police who have listed their religion as Jedi, said her faith helped her ‘fight crime and disorder on Glasgow’s streets’.

Link via Hell in a Handbasket | Photo: Daily Mail

"It’s an incredibly grand story," Landau said. "So who the Magi are in this text is, they are descendants of Adam and Eve’s third son, Seth. They live in this far eastern land. The text calls the land ‘Shir’ and from other ancient texts, it seems like the place it had in mind is the land of China."

And that’s not the only surprise in the ancient text:

Landau said the rediscovered text described the Magi as practicing religious rituals, waiting for the Star of Bethlehem to appear. When the star finally did, they embarked on their journey to the City of David.

But the version of the Wise Men’s story in this text is strikingly different than the traditional one in the Bible, told in 12 verses in the Gospel of Matthew.

In the "Revelation of the Magi," Landau said, the Star of Bethlehem not only led the Wise Men, but actually became the Christ child.

"The cave is filled with light," Landau said, describing the transcribed text. "They’re kind of hesitant about this, but eventually the star…its light concentrates and reveals the small luminous human being…a star child, if you will…it’s Christ."

Link (self-starting video)