Ragg It

The Sinking of Japan

"This is a video of disaster scenes from the 2006 movie Sinking Of Japan (Nihon Chinbotsu). It includes volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and earthquakes. I edited all the disaster parts for your pleasure."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJ6Cftc-E8

Two mammals that lay eggs

Two mammals that lay eggs: the Platypus and the Echidna

The duckbilled platypus is found only in Tasmania and eastern Australia. European scientists who first studied platypus specimens thought a clever taxidermist had stitched together parts of different animals. The “patchwork” appearance of the platypus is seen only by those who believe each animal must be very similar to other animals. In fact, the platypus is perfectly designed for its environment.
http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/LifeSciences13.html

Beware that the above link leads to a creationist website. From the same website, here's an ilustration of "Saturn, DNA, and Description of Ark.":
http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/webpictures/introduction.jpg

The Colossal Squids

Did these creatures fire people's imagination across the ages?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_squid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2910849.stm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0423_030423_seamonsters.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6357005.stm

Xkeban had a good heart

A legend of Xtabay (the female demon) tells us about two women who lived in a village in the Yucatán Peninsula. One was named Xtabay, but people called her Xkeban (which means prostitute, bad woman or who practices illicit love), the other was Utz-Colel (a good, decent woman).

People said Xkeban was sick with lust and gave her favors to every man who asked her. Utz-Colel was virtuous and honest.

Xkeban had a good heart and kindly helped the poor, sick and homeless, and also the animals abandoned for being considered useless, by giving up the jewellery and fine clothes she got from her lovers. She wasn't a haughty woman, neither did she say bad things about people. Xtabay humbly received the insults and humiliations from the people of her village.

On the other hand, Utz-Colel was cold, full of pride, harsh of heart and easily disgusted by the poor.

One day, Xtabay was not seen anymore. Days passed and a fine delicate perfume was smelt all over the village. People found it came from Xtabay's house, who had died there, alone.

Utz-Colel said it wasn't possible, that perfume couldn't be that of such a vile and corrupt body, nothing but decay and stench could come out of her. She argued that had to be bad spirits demon still trying to tempt men. If that is the odour of a dead prostitute, mine shall be incredible when I die, said she.

A few people buried Xtabay, feeling pity for her. The next day, her grave was covered with beautiful flowers of a delicate perfume.

When Utz-Colel died, the entire village attended her funeral, they remembered her virtue and honesty. To the amazement of the crowd, an intolerable stench came out from her grave.

The flowers growing on Xtabay's grave were named Xtabentún.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xtabay

Lee Perry - I am the Upsetter

A correspondent found him recording an album for Joe Gibbs in late 1981: "At the studio Lee had any number of small children who fiddled with instruments, the board, and headphones with alarming proficiency while the session went on. Occasionally Lee would space out and his wife would take over, doing much of the actual work. While singing, Scratch had laid out before him and around him the following items: Sagittarius horoscope, a small gold-painted statue of a lion, a set of hand exercise grips, a book on Buddhist yoga, a note pad full of lyrics, several Lee Perry records with weird phrases scrawled on the covers, a hammer, a pink plastic airplane, a grater, a book on space oddities and a couple of other objects that were beyond identification. He had a gym bag in the corner full of other personal talismans which I did not investigate. (...) -- Interview here

Video here.

Milky Way

As a guide to the relative physical scale of the Milky Way, if the galaxy were reduced to 130 km (80 miles) in diameter, the solar system would be a mere 2 mm (0.08 inches) in width.

There is a unicorn in the garden

In UPA's garden, that is...

The cartoons done by this company were among the most cherished by Surrealist film critics Ado Kyrou and Robert Benayoun. The two rejected the realist approach and anthropomorphisms of Disney’s films. Kyrou thought that: "Disney and his studios, after their promising beginning quickly foundered, became facile and remainded mired in bourgeois sentiment. Disney has been called the ’La Fontaine of the cinema’ and he surely deserves this ignominious title." (Le Surréalisme au cinéma)
http://ombresblanches.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/storm-over-disneyland/

See videos: Unicorn in the Garden, Gerald McBoing-Boing, and Tell Tale Heart.

The first lunar landing

According to the passengers themselves. A list of artificial objects in the moon.

I don't actually know Tom that well.

"The destruction of this planet would have no significance on a cosmic scale"
-- Stanley Kubrick

"The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes"
-- Stanley Kubrick

"I don't actually know Tom that well."
-- Stanley Kubrick

I'm glad we caught you at home

I'm glad we caught you at home
Ah - could we use your phone
We're both in a bit of a hurry
We'll just say where we are
Then go back to the car,
We don't want to be any worry.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PyB_1wjbc_s

The Long Forced March

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution

The Size of the Matter

http://www.plime.com/recommend.p?pid=464&confirm=true&lid=7884

Sacrifice of a Young Aztec

But to the Aztecs the most important and emotive sacrifice was that of a young Aztec. This was accomplished by recruiting a handsome young volunteer and letting him live a luxurious life for a year. This youth would represent Tezcalipoca on earth; he would also get four beautiful women as his companions until the day came for him to die. He would continually go through the streets of the city playing his flute. On the appointed day of the sacrifice, the Aztecs would hold a feast in Tezcatlipoca’s honor. Then, the youth would climb the pyramid, break his flute and surrender to the priest who would sacrifice him. This was one of the more solemn festivities of the Aztec. Sahagun compared it to the Christian Easter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture

A Moon-sized Meteor Hitting the Earth (in Video)

A moon-sized meteor hitting the earth as seen by a Japanese TV channel:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QlYmO4S_Dkk

Raining Animals and WaterSpouts

Raining Animals and WaterSpouts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raining_animals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterspout

Space itself exploded.

"Most scientists agree that the universe began some 12 to 20 billion years ago in what has come to be known as the Big Bang (a term coined by the English astrophysicist Fred Hoyle in 1950. Hoyle, who championed a rival cosmological theory, meant the "Big Bang" to be a term of derision, but the name was so catchy that it stuck.). Though the Big Bang suggests a colossal explosion, it wasn't really an "explosion" in the sense that we understand it. Space itself exploded."
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/InTheBeginning.html

Did the Aliens Land?

Red rain could prove that aliens have already landed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Red_rain_Kerala_TEM.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rain_in_Kerala
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1723913,00.html
http://education.vsnl.com/godfrey/
http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1129&category=Science

Eilann Donan Castle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Eilann_Donan_Castle.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilean_Donan

'Ian Curtis Lives'

"A wall on Wallace Street in Wellington, New Zealand had the words 'Ian Curtis Lives' written on it shortly after the singer's death. The message is repainted whenever it is painted over, and another wall on the same street now bears the legend 'Ian Curtis R.I.P. Walk In Silence'."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Curtis#Legacy

Flo/Flo Operations

"Flo/Flo" operations are the trademark of unique submersible hull ships that transport yachts and other ships:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/images/blue-marlin-pic3.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MightyServantRoberts-gedreht-.jpg

http://www.dockwise.com/media/uploaded/MS1_3.jpg

http://www.marinelog.com/IMAGESMMV/yem4.jpg

The Barber

"JIZAN, 9 October 2006 - A barber, who used his fingers to good effect, found himself in an embarrassing situation after stealing a customer’s cell-phone. The barber was busily attending to a customer’s hair when having made the man feel sleepy with a head massage he slipped the man’s cell-phone into his pocket while continuing with the massage. The activities of the barber’s nimble fingers would not have been noticed but for literal wake-up call for the customer. The barber was left hot under the collar after the phone began to ring in his pocket. The customer, recognizing the ring tone, looked around for his phone and realized that it was in the barber’s pocket. The barber quickly handed the phone to the customer and apologized. The customer threatened to report the theft to the police but later calmed down and forgave the barber after being offered a free haircut."

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=87931&d=9&m=10&y=2006

Mud Volcano

"The crisis managers are slowly running out of options. At first, they tried to simply plug the hole in the ground with concrete, but that effort quickly proved to be useless. Then they tried to cart away the mud on trucks, but abandoned the idea when the discharge volume increased. Their next plan was to construct huge catchment basins. However, the basins, covering an area of about 500 hectares (1,234 acres), were soon full. Now they are hurriedly building an extremely strong dike, which the experienced construction engineer describes as the "last line of defense." But it would take a great deal of optimism to believe that this final bulwark won't soon be flooded as well.
(...)
Haji Hasan, the chairman of one of the lost villages, has turned to a thoroughly unscientific approach to saving the region. He has offered a reward of 100 million rupiahs, or about €8,400 ($10,840), for anyone who can convince the spirits to make the mud stop flowing.
More than 100 magicians, shamans and witches have responded to his appeal, much to the chagrin of local imams. For weeks the collection of sorcerers cast their spells on the volcano. One was an elderly woman who presented herself to the mud as the 'Queen of Bali' and ordered it to stop flowing immediately."

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTY3NDMmbnI9MQ_3_3,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,442408,00.html

Stanley Kubrick on God(s)

"I will say that the God concept is at the heart of 2001 but not any traditional, anthropomorphic image of God. I don't believe in any of Earth's monotheistic religions, but I do believe that one can construct an intriguing scientific definition of God, once you accept the fact that there are approximately 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone, that each star is a life-giving sun and that there are approximately 100 billion galaxies in just the visible universe. Given a planet in a stable orbit, not too hot and not too cold, and given a few billion years of chance chemical reactions created by the interaction of a sun's energy on the planet's chemicals, it's fairly certain that life in one form or another will eventually emerge. It's reasonable to assume that there must be, in fact, countless billions of such planets where biological life has arisen, and the odds of some proportion of such life developing intelligence are high. Now, the sun is by no means an old star, and its planets are mere children in cosmic age, so it seems likely that there are billions of planets in the universe not only where intelligent life is on a lower scale than man but other billions where it is approximately equal and others still where it is hundreds of thousands of millions of years in advance of us. When you think of the giant technological strides that man has made in a few millennia - less than a microsecond in the chronology of the universe - can you imagine the evolutionary development that much older life forms have taken? They may have progressed from biological species, which are fragile shells for the mind at best, into immortal machine entities - and then, over innumerable eons, they could emerge from the chrysalis of matter transformed into beings of pure energy and spirit. Their potentialities would be limitless and their intelligence ungraspable by humans."

The Zombie Walk

"Hey baby, fancy going to a zombie walk tonight?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Walk
http://thecia.com.au/reviews/l/images/land-of-the-dead-8.jpg
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/land_of_the_dead488.jpg
http://www.fearsmag.com/calendar/images/movie/LOD/lotd-5.jpg

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

Be somewhat careful if you're invited to dinner at these guys' house:
http://www.vhemt.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_human_extinction_movement

"Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, or VHEMT ("vehement"), is a website that calls for the voluntary extinction of the human race."

The Dimetrodon

In the third planet of the Solar system, there once was a mammal-like reptile called the Dimetrodon. This animal is thought to be a possible ancestor of contemporary human mammals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Dimetrodon.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimetrodon

The Multicolored Sun

In blue: http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/ProjectionRoom/latest_EIT_171.html

Green: http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/ProjectionRoom/latest_EIT_195.html

Dark-yellow: http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/ProjectionRoom/latest_EIT_284.html

Blazzing orange: http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/ProjectionRoom/latest_SXT_full.html

And Gray: http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/ProjectionRoom/latest_MDI_MAG.html

But on close-up it's this that's happening there: http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/02/sunspot/img/sunspot_popup_485.jpg

Side view: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/sechtml/big2.jpg

Island Universes

"Island Universes: Galaxies are the lighthouses that plumb the Universe - constituents of the largest-scale texture we know.
(...)
Our appreciation of the universe beyond the Milky Way is entirely an achievement of the twentieth century. (...) By the 1920s, photography had revealed that there must be tens of thousands of these objects, by then known as white nebulae to distinguish them from the clearly different gaseous nebulae such as the famous Orion Nebula, accessible to the telescopes of the time. They showed a variety of spiral, elongated, or oval forms. The most plausible theories to account for these nebulae made them either nearby objects - perhaps planetary systems in formation - or extremely distant, truly "island universes" of which our Milky Way, hitherto the entire known Universe, would be merely one among myriads."

http://www.astr.ua.edu/goodies/data_resources/galaxies.text

Oh, the Gravity!

"What is the evidence that gravity is a pulling force? Nothing."
http://www.biochem.szote.u-szeged.hu/astrojan/gravity.htm