Urban Legends

Genetic analysis of a shrunken head verifies anecdotal accounts of violent head-hunting in South America.They"ve appeard in movies such as Beetlejuice and Harry Potter and thousands of them were manufactured in the late 19th and early20th centuries to turn a profit, but one shrunken head recently discovered proved to be the real deal.

A remarkably well-preserved shrunken head has just been authenticated by DNA analysis, which provides strong evidence that anecdotal accounts of violent head-hunting in South America were true. The study, published in the latest issue of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, marks the firstsuccessful effort to unveil the genetic make-up of a shrunken head.  

View: Full article |  Source: Discovery News  

To most it"s any ordinary day but to some Friday 13th is a time when fear and anxiety go in to overdrive.Superstitions have lead to Friday 13th being regarded by some as a day when an unusually large amount of bad luck can be expected, it is estimated that up to $900 million is lost in business due to people avoiding the things they"d normally do. Some people have it even worse and suffer froma complete and irrational fear of the day, a condition known as friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Most Canadians will brave ice pellets hailing from the skies, rush-hour traffic and roads covered in black ice to get to work. But some won"t be able to face the thought of leaving their homes on Friday the 13th. The good news for friggatriskaidekaphobiacs, people with Friday-the-13th phobia, is that there isonly one this year. The bad news: it"s today.  

View: Full article |  Source: Vancouver Sun  

Art detectives have discovered tiny letters and numbers placed in the eyes of the Mona Lisa.Like something out of Dan Brown"s Da Vinci Code the tiny letters have been identified for the first time under magnification, in the right eye the letters spell out Da Vinci"s own initials LV suggesting that heplaced them there deliberately.

Intrigue is usually focused on her enigmatic smile. But the Mona Lisa was at the centre of a new mystery yesterday after art detectives took a fresh look at the masterpiece – and noticed something in her eyes.  

View: Full article |  Source: Daily Mail  

Anthony Bragalia continues his research in to the 1964 Socorro UFO incident that he believes is a hoax and that is now thought to have been the work of a group of student pranksters who were activeduring the 1960"s."New investigation reveals that the likely culprits behind the Socorro UFO hoax in 1964 were part of a highly secret group of student pranksters at NM Tech.

It is now learned that so extreme were some of these Techie "pranks" during the 1960s that theyeven caused physical endangerment."

View: Full Article | Source: UFOIconoclast(s)