Scary Clowns, Swine Bombs, Giant Spiders and More Mysterious News Briefly — September 22, 2020

Mysterious News Briefly — September 22, 2020

Japan signed a deal to import poteen from Northern Ireland – poteen is an ancient and extremely potent Irish spirit that was once illegal and alleged to cause blindness and sometimes death when distillers made it clandestinely in bogs. Some say it’s a sign you live in a really good country when you have to look outside of it for things that can kill you.

It’s terrifying clown season again as residents of Ploverdale Crescent, Kingswinford, report seeing a bare-chested clown with scary fake teeth sneaking up on people, laughing maniacally and then running away. In the U.S., this would be called “campaigning for the next election.”

A team at Texas A&M has developed plans for an expandable space habitat of concentric cylinders that can house up to 8000 people while spinning fast enough to create artificial gravity. The technology isn’t there yet to build one in space, but this could easily make a great amusement park ride once the pandemic is over.

European aviation giant Airbus SE unveiled three designs for zero-carbon passenger planes powered by modified gas-turbine engines running on hydrogen. These will never catch on as long as there’s one person left who remembers “Oh … the humanity!”

The National Feral Swine Damage Management Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the nine million feral hogs in the U.S. are reproducing so quickly that they’re creating a “feral swine bomb.” Consider sending a donation to the cause if you just named your band Feral Swine Bomb.

The venom of the Venezuelan Pinkfoot Goliath tarantula, which has a leg-span of up to 30 cm (11.8 inches), has been found to provide pain relief to sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome, a condition that affects around 20 per cent of the world’s population. Beware – trying to catch on can cause irritable spider syndrome.

A new study found that pigs can easily digest ribeye steak, bologna, beef jerky, salami and cooked ground beef. Didn’t George Orwell warn about this?

Researchers at WMG University of Warwick have developed visuospatial training exercises that can train the brain to reduce motion sickness. The hardest part is driving to the lab for the first session.

According to a new study, the high-pitched sound rats make when tickled is an emotional sign that they actually enjoy it. If you enjoy tickling rats, you’re a candidate for a different study.

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