Bizarre Events Thread

Are all the nonnas wearing black? With their moustaches bristling in the breeze?

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Not just the nonnas

I ain’t staying that long. Heading for the exit now

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Back on topic, sorry guys

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Woah!

Worst kinda violence seems to happen under a family toof.

This wouldn’t have happened if the son had put those eggs up his blurter.

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You can’t make an omelette…

No doubt for many we’d have things that weren’t great in our families growing up or now. But in comparison to some families it can’t compare, there are some families who are in a seriously sad and dreadful situation.

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At first I thought this said was the first cousin fish with rice. :neutral_face:

Porcodio.

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Babo

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‘Unknown life’ found in New York’s subway system

Jamie Seidel, News Corp Australia Network

an hour ago

SOME 15,000 life forms were detected in DNA sampled from the turnstiles, keypads and seats of 466 of New York’s subway stations. Most of it is what you’d expect: mozzarella, blowflies, staph — and anthrax. Then there’s the weird stuff: Tasmanian devil, Himalayan yak and Mediterranean fruit fly.

But, that only accounts for half of the DNA collected and sequenced in the recent study of the thriving metropolis’ underground biome (habitat).

The other half is, well … unknown.

Is the New York subway the closest thing on Earth to the primordial goop that first sparked life on this planet?

Or is it the favoured mode of terrestrial transport for extraterrestrials (the UN is based in New York, after all)?

Are there Aliens lurking in New York’s subway system?

The Wall Street Journal has compiled the results of the New York subway network study by the PathoMap project into an interactive map.

Yes, there’s a thriving metropolis of bacteria down there.

And it’s even divided itself into communities.

It’s all been made possible due to the increasing speed and ease with which DNA analysis can be conducted. Samples don’t need to be big — simple scrapings will do. Your average lab can do the sequencing.

NEW YORK’S BACTERIAL WORLD

SUPERHUMAN: Building better microbes to super-charge soldiers

“We know next to nothing about the ecology of urban environments,” evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen at the University of California at Davis told the Wall Street Journal . “How will we know if there is something abnormal if we don’t know what normal is?”

And if you want to find something, a subway used by 5.5 million commuters every day is where you’re going to find it.

They found more than 10 billion fragments of biochemical code, and sifted it through a supercomputer.

The only problem was the library of known DNA it was all matched to.

So, no. The unknown DNA isn’t likely to be our evolutionary future. Nor is it likely to be the Illuminati, Daleks, Cloverfields — or any number of other alien life form that has invaded New York on our screens.

What lurks beneath? New York’s subway system is a bacterial city beneath the city. Picture: Alamy

We’ve only just started mapping the DNA of all the world’s life. The digital shelves of that library are still largely bare.

So when a result matches ‘no known life form’, that’s exactly what it means.

It simply hasn’t been identified and catalogued yet.

Humans. Blowflies. Beetles.

The DNA of all of the above were found in abundance.

But not cockroaches.

That’s because they’ve not been fully sequenced yet.

And why did the test throw up Tasmanian devils and Himalayan yaks — both somewhat unlikely to use the New York subway?

Because fragments of DNA can be similar between species. And an incomplete catalogue will throw up only what it knows.

This is why PathoMap later retracted its claims to have found anthrax and bubonic plague in the subway system: it blamed an ‘error of interpretation’ for the misdiagnosis.

Passengers use a card to enter the newly-opened WTC Cortlandt subway station in New York. Some 5.5 million commuters use the system every day.

The study has a serious side.

It is looking at what potentially harmful (disease carrying) bacteria is thriving beneath the city’s streets, where it came from and how it got there.

It’s seeded by the bacteria on the food commuters eat, the pets and plants they keep, carried by their shoes and clothes, and left behind by their trash, couches and unwashed hands.

More than half of the identified bacteria came from human gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts (faeces). About a third was the mostly harmless stuff that lives on our skin. Most of the remainder was associated with coughing or sneezing.

The scientists pointed out the levels of bacteria they detected in the subway system poses no public-health problem.

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

New York City subway entrance turnstiles have been touched by life forms of ‘no known origin’. Picture: Alamy

But the list of bacteria species they found at New York’s 466 stations is revealing:

— 220 stations had traces of antibiotic resistant bacteria

— 215 had food-poising bacteria

— 192 carried urinary tract infections

— 151 had traces of mozzarella cheese

— 66 had meningitis and depsis

— 60 had saurcraut

— 37 were harbouring staph infections

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Ex-Braves closer, John Rocker, had some interesting things to say about patrons of the 7 train that goes out to Flushing where the Mets play.

But then, John Rocker’s neck was as red as you could imagine and you could imagine his ancestors with white sheets, pointy hoods and flaming crosses.

Chinese doctors remove spoon from man’s throat one year after he swallowed it ‘on impulse’

about 2 hours ago

Posted

<img src=’/uploads/default/original/3X/0/6/0614aafb09d156cf2f49c3674c1a17892ddc840c.jpg’ alt=‘An X-ray image shows a 20cm long spoon lodged in a man’s oesophagus.|700x467’> Photo: An X-ray clearly shows the spoon lodged in Mr Zhang’s throat. (Xinjiang Coal Mine General Hospital)

Chinese doctors have removed a 20-centimetre long spoon which was stuck in a man’s throat for a year.

Key points:

  • The patient swallowed the spoon as a bet
  • He only suffered pain after being punched in the chest a year later
  • Three doctors took two hours to remove the spoon via his mouth

The man, aged in his early 20s and identified only as Mr Zhang, swallowed the spoon in 2017.

He did this on impulse while “betting” with friends, a statement from the Xinjiang Coal Mine General Hospital said.

The steel spoon became lodged in his oesophagus but, as he suffered no pain or discomfort, Mr Zhang did not seek medical attention to remove the utensil.

A grimy spoon covered in a film of mucous placed next to a syringe for scale. The spoon is roughly 20cm long. |340x453 Photo: The 20cm long spoon was removed from Mr Zhang’s throat via his mouth. (Xinjiang Coal Mine General Hospital)

It wasn’t until he was recently punched in the chest that the spoon became a problem for Mr Zhang.

He presented to hospital with breathing difficulties and chest pain, with x-rays of his torso shocking doctors.

“I was very surprised,” the hospital’s ear nose and throat specialist Yu Xiwu said.

“I have never encountered a similar patient.”

A delicate procedure

Dr Xiwu ruled the spoon a threat to Mr Zhang’s life and doctors removed it under general anaesthetic.

It took two hours to retrieve the spoon via Mr Zhang’s mouth, with the procedure carrying a risk of perforating his oesophagus.

Doctors said the spoon was covered in mucus and could have caused a serious infection.

However, Mr Zhang recovered well from the procedure and was discharged two days later.

The hospital published a public safety warning from Dr Xiwu following the procedure, urging people to avoid swallowing foreign objects such as cutlery.

“Don’t be impulsive and do things that hurt you,” the statement read.

“Because foreign bodies enter the oesophagus or stomach, they can be life-threatening at any time.”

Topics: medical-procedures, doctors-and-medical-professionals, china

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And people wonder why I don’t use public transport. It’s rancid.

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not so much bizarre, but huge. The slope of the ground nor the angle of the grass are not to blame here…

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Go Knickers!

Where can I get some of those cute little cows?

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Hmmm, … I reckon that’s a heap of Bull!!

Why didnt we draft that guy? There’s the midfield bull we’ve been searching for.

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