More rarely, the results of test screenings affirm the quality and entertainment value of a movie. Test screenings also give those who aren’t part of show business a glimpse into the concerns and intentions of the people who work in this profession. No matter the viewers’ findings, test screening audiences’ responses almost always have a direct effect on the movie’s final cut and the version of the film that appears on theater screens....
10Gene Isaac Stees Athens, Ohio—which is home to Ohio University—is not only one of America’s most beautiful college towns but also one of its most infamous. Almost every inch of the town is reportedly haunted. Some people point out that the town’s cemetery fits neatly inside of a pentagram, suggesting that the town is just plain evil. In fall 1962, no ghosts were necessary. Professor Gene Isaac Stees was plenty evil enough for Athens....
The Grifter is an urban legend that began to circulate on the Internet in 2009. The video is said to show horrifying images of people being tortured and killed. Viewers of the movie can experience nausea, trauma, night terrors, clinical depression, and even commit suicide. The content shows the human sacrifice of small babies and images of satanic ritual abuse. In some cases, people have attempted to make a copy of the film, but have failed....
But gangs have existed for at least 2,000 years—and probably a lot longer. The gangs of Milo and Clodius were duking it out for control of Rome in 50 BC, and in sixth-century Constantinople, an emperor effectively relied on the backing of either the Blue or Green gang for power: When they both united against Emperor Justinian, they burned half the city to the ground. Gangs in the middle ages, though, were a more local affair, often run by unscrupulous noble families or ex-soldiers looking for ways to put their skills to use....
People labeled dangerous offenders are given indefinite prison sentences, meaning that as long as the court believes they are a risk to public safety, they will remain locked away behind bars—often for the rest of their lives. In the rare event that a dangerous offender is released, they are placed on parole and closely monitored until their death. While many Canadians support the dangerous offender provisions, some see it as a violation of the Canadian Charter Of Rights because once the prosecution seeks DO status, the onus is placed on the offender to prove to the court that they are not dangerous....
If you could shrink down to the ants’ size and live in their world, you would witness a savage struggle as old as the dinosaurs. Theirs is a violent world full of ruthless royalty, cutthroat raiders, cunning thieves, globe-spanning armies, and sometimes even comic book superpowers. We’ve talked before about some of the strange things ants do. Here are 10 of the most unbelievable ants on Earth. 10 Cardiocondyla Obscurior Mafia Ants There is only one C....
10‘Just £3 A Month Can Save A Child’s Life’ An activist receives a message from a man who says he admired her work raising money for the less fortunate while at a party. The man sends her pamphlets, which echo her oft-repeated sentiment that a life can be saved for only £3 in donations a month. The man is so committed to the cause that he’s sold everything he owned for donations....
This week’s list features humans pushing the envelope and doing things that have never been done before. Some of them stuck crocodiles into MRI machines, while others brought back centuries-old beer. And, of course, let’s not forget about the largest orgy in the world. 10 Serial Pooper Identified Recently, Holmdel High School in New Jersey had a bizarre problem—every day, someone would defecate on the school’s track and field. Eventually, officials set up surveillance to catch the culprit, and his identity shocked everyone....
This has been a particularly bizarre week for the art world. We have a case of mistaken identity, an art lover swallowed by the void, and a painting made by AI. Meanwhile, scientists tackled a few space mysteries. They identified a weird object on Mars but remain puzzled by Steve the skyglow. 10 NASA Identifies PPFOD Mars is currently experiencing a dust storm that might destroy the Opportunity rover. Meanwhile, Curiosity is still roaming the planet and sending us back some cool pictures....
Most writers will date the end of the Reconquest at January 2, 1492, for on that day, the final redoubt of Muslim power, Granada, fell to the allied Christian forces of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I. Following this triumph, an emboldened Spain ventured forth into the New World. Along with Portugal, another mostly Christian nation that experienced Muslim rule for centuries, the Spanish crown established a global empire that peaked in the 16th century....
Confession, they say, is good for the soul, and it seems that some people find their consciences weighing heavily on them, and they often decide to unburden themselves before they go. Whilst their remorse may be said to be better late than never, the families left behind are often left having to decide what to do with these revelations after their loved one has died. Here are 10 people who made deathbed confessions of murder....
10 Philomele Jonetre Philomele Jonetre, a 24-year-old French woman, fell ill with cholera in 1867. After a few days of being sick, she was given the last rites by a priest and pronounced dead. She was placed in her coffin one hour later, and within six hours of death, she was under the ground. When the gravediggers finished burying Philomele, they were about to head home when they heard a knocking sound from the grave site....
10 The Town That Escaped the Tsunami Fudai is a small village located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, about 515 kilometers (320 miles) north of Toyko. In 1896 and 1933, hundreds of people died, and homes were destroyed in massive tsunamis that flattened the place in seconds. Late Fudai mayor, Kotaku Wamura, was in office for ten terms and wrote a book about Fudai in which he mentioned the 1933 tsunami, saying: “When I saw bodies being dug up from the piles of earth, I did not know what to say....
We tend to think of them existing only in places where other life forms can be found, such as in our gut, the kitchen, forests, and ponds. However, plenty of bacteria require no such environment and can be found in some truly obscure and surprising places on this planet and beyond. 10Inside Solid Rock It was long believed that one of the requirements for life to exist was sunlight. Even organisms not directly exposed to the Sun (such as those residing in your gut) would consume organic matter that at one point was synthesized with the help of sunlight....
These creative bits of visual shorthand are great for quickly letting the world know where we stand on an issue or just for stirring up a particular feeling. However, given how powerful they are, it’s unsettling how little we know about them. For all we know, they could mean the exact opposite of what we’ve been led to believe. And for these 10 symbols at least, that’s precisely the case....
10 Alcubierre Warp Drive Anything called a “warp drive” might sound like it’s more at home on Star Trek than in NASA. Nevertheless, the Alcubierre Warp Drive is an idea that they’re kicking around as a possible solution (or at least the beginning of a solution) to overcoming the universe’s restrictions when it comes to moving faster than light. The basics of the idea are pretty simple, and NASA uses the example of a moving walkway to explain it....
10 Brian Zimmerman History is full of monarchs that were given power before reaching adulthood. But even though Brian Zimmerman acquired a relatively small amount of power compared to any of those young rulers, he came by it through work instead of by birth. In 1983, Zimmerman successfully campaigned for mayor of the unincorporated town of Crabb, Texas, (population 225 at the time) when he was only 11 years old. His campaign was no doubt helped by powerful rhetoric like: “The mayor isn’t there to sit and worry about keeping his job....
The Victorians, who took death so seriously, must have struggled even harder. Their sense of propriety and strict decorum combined with their morbid obsession with death must have made attending any funeral difficult. On that note, attending any of the following people’s funerals must have been extremely challenging. 10 The Man Who Swallowed A Mouse Factories in Victorian England were not hygienic places. Mills especially attracted a large number of vermin....
Fifty years ago, the mainstream scientific consensus said that our ancestors went from living in trees to hunting on the savanna. Then fossil evidence challenged what we thought we knew. In the Great Rift Valley where early hominids thrived, paleontologists discovered that the accompanying microfauna, pollen, and vegetation from that period weren’t savanna species at all. The image of early hunters chasing red meat through a golden savanna sure painted beautiful illustrations for biology textbooks....
By studying the waste left behind, scholars have been able to make some interesting discoveries regarding our ancestors. While garbology is unlikely to yield any priceless artifacts, many archaeologists feel that it offers the most genuine glimpse into the day-to-day life of older cultures. 10 Ancient Dolphin Hunters The term for an old dumpsite of domestic waste is “midden.” After studying a 6,000-year-old midden on Pedro Gonzalez Island off the coast of Panama, archaeologists discovered that the island’s first inhabitants were dolphin eaters....
