Modern problems with scientific naming: Example – Bigfoot
A new article in the Journal of Mammalogy calls out the problem with poor naming practices of new species in our internet age. “Bigfoot” is the perfect bad example.
Category Archives: Science and Nature
The Ketchum Project: What to Believe about Bigfoot DNA ‘Science’ (2013)
Reprint of 2013 article detailing the proposed but illegitimate publication of Bigfoot DNA results by Melba Ketchum, and her circus of pseudoscience.
Purple heart amethyst geode
Geodes are cool natural clusters of crystals inside rock bodies. One example of an amethyst geode from Uruguay formed in a heart shape.
Unfortunate media trend to make oarfish the doomsday fish
Oarfish have an unfortunate and false association with earthquakes. A recent find of a dead oarfish associated with a small quake in Los Angeles made headlines as a doomsday fish.
The many degrees of freedom of the griffin
The popular origin of the griffin as inspired by Protoceratops dinosaur fossils is questioned. Can we ever really know for sure if there is a connection?
Listen: In Research Of… San Andreas
Musing on the 1979 episode of In Search Of episode about the San Andreas fault and earthquake movies.
Zoological melodrama – Hutton on dragons
Professor Ronald Hutton gives a fantastic and entertaining lecture on why we have dragons worldwide.
Pop cryptid chatter: Beards and encryptids
Pop cryptids items: Representation at cryptozoology conferences, the EFF incorporates cryptids into their promotional drive and the passing of a well-loved author and artist.
News blips: Not trying to scare you
Not trying to scare you or anything but three news stories this week are slightly unsettling – giant waves, hailstorms and killer pythons.
Suspicious photos of alleged thylacine revealed by pop wildlife biologist
New photos claim to show a thylacine in Tasmania. Distributed by a popular television personality who popularizes mysterious animal sightings, the photos and the backstory appear bogus.
Fantasy metals – not all Bolognium
Exploring fantasy metals in media highlights their ubiquitous role as story elements with qualities such as rarity, strength, and magical powers. Used in education, they exemplify impossible chemistries to contrast with real-world elements. Unobtainium, Adamantium, Vibranium, and Mithril serve as plot devices while Orichalcum, Dilithium, and Red Mercury exist as quasi-real earth materials clouded by extraordinary myths.
News blips: Havana syndrome evaporates and headlines burn up about plate tectonics
A new study further dispels concerns that Havana syndrome was caused by a secret weapon. And new research about plate tectonics in the Atlantic is wildly exaggerated.
Wrath of Pele
The legend of Pele is relatively well known even outside of Hawaii. Her wrath, tears, hair, curses and legends are explored here.
Ball lightning videos everywhere
Videos purporting to show the rare natural phenomenon of ball lightning are popping up on social media. Are they real or fake?
I survived the Bermuda Triangle
Finding the weird and wonderful in Bermuda Cross one item off my bucket list for 2022: I visited Bermuda on a family holiday. Unsurprisingly, when I visit new places, I look for spooky things and natural wonders. So this post will mainly be about the unusual aspects of the tiny island country. Bermuda is definitely… Read More »
Mystery booms in 2022
Here we are in a new year! Let’s hope it’s a good one. Mystery booms and Skyquakes of 2022 In 2021, I began keeping track of mystery booms reported in the media. Mystery booms are unsettling because they signal some sort of danger from below ground, on the surface, or in the sky. Often, we… Read More »
Texarkana Fish Rain Mystery Solved
The fish that fell in a December thunderstorm likely came from the nervous stomachs of birds that ejected their recent meal, investigators conclude.
Flat-earthers as scientifical Americans: One message from ‘Behind the Curve’
Most people react to flat-earthers by labeling them as stupid or scientifically illiterate. A moderate effort to examine what they say will reveal that is not so. On the contrary, those who embrace conspiratorial beliefs seem to be bored with the conventional. Their active, creative brains spin more intriguing, complicated, and colorful trappings around mundane… Read More »
Science and cryptozoology: The taboo subject of Bigfoot doesn’t add up
Episode 7 of Laura Krantz’ Wild Thing podcast on Bigfoot, science and society explores the contentious relationship between the orthodox scientific community and those scientists who choose to seriously explore fringe topics like this one. Several science-minded Bigfoot advocates are profiled who lament the way society and the “Ivory Tower” of science (a monolithic metaphorical… Read More »
Why the Darwin Awards Should Die
The Darwin Awards are a commodification of callous ghoulishness that celebrates people’s death and misfortune.