Copper Wire

February 15, 2012 at 6:22 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, British scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the British, in the weeks that followed, an American archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story published in the New York Times: “American archaeologists, finding traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the British”.

One week later, Australia’s Northern Territory Times, reported the following: “After digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Billi Bunji, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Billi has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Australia had already gone wireless.”

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THE NEWS

Odd news from around the world

Why a Pole’s politeness can be lost in translation: “If your Polish plumber curtly tells you to pass the spanner, don’t worry, he isn’t being rude. And if the Polish assistant in the coffee shop seems unnecessarily brusque when she tells you where the milk is, she’s not trying to be offensive either. In reality they are trying to be polite, but their intentions get lost in translation, according to a state-funded study. It found that Poles often assume when they speak to someone that the other person is willing to help them. Their direct manner of speech is meant to convey they idea that they share a positive relationship. But English people usually expect to be asked nicely before they do something for someone else, and to have the chance to show they are prepared to co-operate, the study found. ‘When a Polish person wants a family member to pass the milk, there is a presumption that the other person will be available at that moment and will help,’ Dr Zinken said. ‘The fact that you can make this presumption is seen as a good thing, it says something positive about the relationship between the speaker and the other person.’”

Royal Navy fires enough sailors on drugs in four years to fill a WARSHIP, shocking figures reveal: “The Royal Navy has dismissed enough sailors for drug offences in the last four years that it could have manned an entire warship with the disgraced crew. A total of 63 sailors tested positive for illegal substances – including ecstasy and cocaine – between October 2007 and July 2011. Some of the sailors who failed the drug tests were serving on some of the Navy’s most prestigious ships, including the HMS Ark Royal. The sailors include two women, aged 22 and 23, who tested positive for cocaine on the HMS Ark Royal in March last year – just four days before the aircraft carrier was decommissioned in Portsmouth. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, also reveal a male Leading Seaman, aged 26, tested positive for cocaine on HMS Westminster. If those 63 sailors had not lost their positions, they could have manned a typical minesweeper, which generally has a crew of 30 to 40, between them.”

Scissor bandit: “A student whose hair was cut off by a scissor-wielding stalker yesterday told of how the bizarre attack has left her terrified of her own shadow. Jessica Wright, 19, spoke out as Darren Dixon, 44, appeared in court and admitted cutting off chunks of her long red hair, as well as a similar attack on another woman. ‘He walked up behind me and was playing with my hair. I turned around and asked him if he wanted to get past but he didn’t speak.’ The undergraduate said she then heard the sharp metallic sound of the scissors. ‘Then I knew immediately that he’d cut off a chunk of my hair and I was staring at him in utter disbelief.’ He was arrested after CCTV images of the first attack were released by Greater Manchester Police. After Dixon pleaded guilty to two counts of assault at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, sentencing was adjourned until April for psychiatric reports to be prepared. No explanation was given for why he carried out the attacks, which left his victims feeling scared and ‘robbed’.”

A mammoth hoax: “As they watched a giant beast lurching through the water in outer Siberia, experts thought they had found evidence that the extinct woolly mammoth was alive and well. But the dramatic footage is a hoax the documentary maker who made the recording has revealed. Lou Petho filmed the video himself – minus the woolly mammoth – and said someone had doctored his footage. The video appeared to show an elephant-shaped animal with reddish-brown fur – which would match the colour of mammoth hair dug up from the perma-frost in frozen Russia – and a trunk dragging in the river. In reality the animal was nothing more than a computer creation and the footage was recorded as part of a documentary and captured by Mr Petho during a five-day trek. Leo Petho said in a video he published on YouTube: ‘I was alerted to the fact that a character by the name of Michael Cohen took hold of some of my footage without knowing it and created an elaborate hoax on the public.’”

The longest Texas longhorn is in Australia: “A Texas Longhorn bull that more than lives up to its name has smashed the record for the world’s longest horns. Seven-year-old JR has horns that measure an incredible 9ft 1ins – and they are likely to grow even bigger. But even though he has a name derived from a character in Dallas, the ultimate Texas television show, JR does not reside in the U.S. Instead, he is part of the largest herd of Texas Longhorns in Australia, roaming around the 1,100acre Leahton Park estate in Queensland. JR is descended from pure Texas Longhorn stock. ‘He’s only seven so he still has a bit of growing to do yet – they can live until their early 20s – his horns could still get bigger.’ The park opened as a tourist attraction three years ago to allow visitors to take horse-drawn wagon tours to see the Longhorns.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.